[Posted on January 24, 2008 - 5:18 PM]
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DiggAbu Dhabi-based Masdar Clean Tech Fund's investment in NanoGram Inc., announced last week was unusual, coming from a place known more for oil and wealth than high-technology. But Cleantech Media suggests the Arab emirate could be on the way to becoming a capital of energy and environmental innovation.
The Abu Dhabi government hosted the World Future Energy Summit this week, and took the opportunity to announce there that it will sink an impressive $15 billion into energy projects within the tiny principality. Alex O'Cinneide, a partner at the Masdar Clean Tech Fund who headed the investment in solar film developer NanoGram, said he wants to bring manufacturing of solar components and other cleantech products to Abu Dhabi, and support development of the talent and training to do so.
Abu Dhabi next year is opening a six square kilometer tax-free zone that will allow for foreign ownership of light industry and laboratories, and host programs for research and education.
The oil-rich country's Masdar Initiative also is collaborating with the U.K.'s BP and Australia's Rio Tinto for a 500 megawatt hydrogen-fired power plant, which is expected to cost $2 billion and which will be the largest of its kind, with plans for pioneering carbon capture and storage features. Other alliances include a partnership the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to establish the Masdar Institute of Science of Science and Technology, also set to open next year, and collaborations with Columbia University, the Imperial College of London, the Tokyo Institute of Technology and others.
In addition to NanoGram, the Masdar fund has also invested in waste treatment startup EnerTech Environmental, solar developers HaloSource and HelioVolt and scooter manufacturer Segway. - Clifford Carlsen
See Jan. 16 story from TheDeal.com
See Jan. 23 post from Cleantech.com
For more see Green Tech Blog and Federated/Tech
