We live in an exciting, vibrant city that is embracing itsacceptance as a key player in world economics and politics with ease and maturity. Recently celebrating its 40th National Day, Dubai is young but has achieved tremendous amounts in such a short time including rapid growth. With this growth has come one major issue – that of resource scarcity.
More information please download the article
Sustainability talk is ‘tiring’ says architect 3
I would hazard a guess that 99% of the people and companies that use the “S” word don’t understand what it really means…
Tony Marshallsay
Riyadh
UAE uses 83% more water than the global average per head of the population, and about 6 times more than the UK.
People in the UAE use about 550 litres of water each day – 200,750 litres a year.
Dr Walid Fayad an authority on energy and utilities, said excess consumption in the GCC can no longer be ignored.
“Water scarcity is a reality in just about every Arab country if the don’t make changes these countries will find themselves in serious trouble.”
The last drop
A new generation of liquid-cooled LED light bulbs are set to go on sale, which will result in energy savings for consumers.
The revolutionary design, which has been developed by makers Switch – a Californian-based firm, offers a longer life and a better performance than a regular bulb.
However, unlike the traditional design, it will use a fraction of the watts to emit a brightness that matches up to its 100W counterpart.
Bright spark: The new LED design, left, will emit more light than a regular bulb
The bulb which was showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, is set to retail for £24 when it eventually goes on sale.
Brett Sharenow, strategy officer for the company, praised the creation saying: ‘The big thing about this bulb is it uses 80 per cent less energy than an incandescent.’
He added: ‘In commercial applications in general, they really would like to get back to the light quality that you get from an incandescent bulb.’
The LED light bulbs are presently available only for the US 120-volt system, but the company plans to release versions of the bulbs for use in the UK and Europe by the end of 2012.
Sharenow believes the bulbs will be a particular hit in the UK, where energy costs are as much as double those in the US.
‘For a commercial application, the payback is about six months. To commercial users, it is a no-brainer.’ he said.
That 3 degrees rise in temperature is comparable with global heating that occurred between the least ice age, approximately 15,000 years ago and the warmth of the 18th century. Late this century when it is three degrees hotter glaciers everywhere will be melting in a climate of often unbearable heat and drought, punctured with storms and floods. The consequence for humanity could be truly horrific; if we fail to act swiftly, the full impact of global heating could cull us along with vast populations of plants and animals with whom we share the earth.