274 L.-C. SIM
gas or solar. 47 Another study estimated the social costs of nuclear electricity in Europe at just over e20 per megawatt hour which was less than
all fossil fuel-based sources of electricity but higher than utility-scale solar
energy. 48 The point here is that the energy regime forged on the basis of
oil was largely unfazed since there were few incentives at the international
level for the UAE to embrace costly adaptation or mitigation measures.
To be sure, Masdar, the subsidiary of the Mubadala sovereign wealth
fund tasked to promote renewable energy and to create a zero-carbon
city in Abu Dhabi among other mandates, had been created in 2007.
But, as wryly noted by its co-founder, Steven Geiger, ‘virtually everyone
outside Mubadala considered it a daft idea. With [CEO of Mubadala and
Chairman of EAA] Khaldoon Al Mubarak’s and Mohamed bin Zayed’s
visible support, there were no direct attacks, but surely there were many
snide whispers in the majlises’. 49 In this connection, a researcher found
‘no profound environmental awareness among most UAE citizens’ during
the first decade of the twenty-first century, the country was referred to as
the ‘worst case scenario’ within the GCC in 2008 in terms of addressing
environmental degradation, and its per capita emissions of carbon dioxide
of 21 metric tons in 2009 were the sixth highest globally, surpassing even
Saudi Arabia or the US. 50
Nuclear at the Regime Level
Following the death of his father in 2004, the Crown Prince of
Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, became the dominant policy
entrepreneur in the emirate. Not content with the traditional practice of
recycling petro-dollars in Europe and North America, the Crown Prince
directed that some of these revenues be invested within Abu Dhabi to
create a diversified economy with indigenous sources of growth. The task
was given to the newly created Mubadala, the emirate’s sovereign wealth
fund, of which he was the Chairman. This change of development philosophy, subsequently institutionalized as Abu Dhabi Vision 2030, ‘presaged
a massive increase in energy requirements and came with a huge energy
price tag…It became absolutely clear that to continue along this economic
diversification trajectory would require a lot more energy than what we
had at the moment’. 51
Based on a cumulative demand growth of 9% per annum between 2007
and 2020, gas would only be able to meet 40–50% of the country’s peak
electricity demand by 2020. 52 The severity of the power shortage was
gas or solar. 47 Another study estimated the social costs of nuclear electricity in Europe at just over e20 per megawatt hour which was less than
all fossil fuel-based sources of electricity but higher than utility-scale solar
energy. 48 The point here is that the energy regime forged on the basis of
oil was largely unfazed since there were few incentives at the international
level for the UAE to embrace costly adaptation or mitigation measures.
To be sure, Masdar, the subsidiary of the Mubadala sovereign wealth
fund tasked to promote renewable energy and to create a zero-carbon
city in Abu Dhabi among other mandates, had been created in 2007.
But, as wryly noted by its co-founder, Steven Geiger, ‘virtually everyone
outside Mubadala considered it a daft idea. With [CEO of Mubadala and
Chairman of EAA] Khaldoon Al Mubarak’s and Mohamed bin Zayed’s
visible support, there were no direct attacks, but surely there were many
snide whispers in the majlises’. 49 In this connection, a researcher found
‘no profound environmental awareness among most UAE citizens’ during
the first decade of the twenty-first century, the country was referred to as
the ‘worst case scenario’ within the GCC in 2008 in terms of addressing
environmental degradation, and its per capita emissions of carbon dioxide
of 21 metric tons in 2009 were the sixth highest globally, surpassing even
Saudi Arabia or the US. 50
Nuclear at the Regime Level
Following the death of his father in 2004, the Crown Prince of
Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, became the dominant policy
entrepreneur in the emirate. Not content with the traditional practice of
recycling petro-dollars in Europe and North America, the Crown Prince
directed that some of these revenues be invested within Abu Dhabi to
create a diversified economy with indigenous sources of growth. The task
was given to the newly created Mubadala, the emirate’s sovereign wealth
fund, of which he was the Chairman. This change of development philosophy, subsequently institutionalized as Abu Dhabi Vision 2030, ‘presaged
a massive increase in energy requirements and came with a huge energy
price tag…It became absolutely clear that to continue along this economic
diversification trajectory would require a lot more energy than what we
had at the moment’. 51
Based on a cumulative demand growth of 9% per annum between 2007
and 2020, gas would only be able to meet 40–50% of the country’s peak
electricity demand by 2020. 52 The severity of the power shortage was