I recently spent a week in Dubai’s desert, prowling the sands in a modified Land Rover in a bid to observe some of the Middle East’s most elusive residents. I glimpsed an abundance of incredible wildlife — the Arabian oryx, various owls, lizards, eagles, vultures, flamingos — yet it’s a far from natural sight that sticks in my mind above all others: the ethereal, sparkling Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.
Rising from the dunes like an alien craft, the solar park - the largest single-site solar park in the world - is both a staggering feat of engineering and progressive thinking, and an awe-inspiring, almost celestial vision. The park provides clean energy for tens of thousands of Dubai residents, and since its launch, has trimmed Dubai’s carbon emissions by around 214,000 tonnes a year. By 2030, it will be reducing approximately 6.5 million tonnes.
In many ways, the solar park epitomises Dubai’s ongoing obsession with both being green and also the emirates devotion to bringing the inconceivable to life. Dubai is a place that has, for decades, enabled innovative, determined thinkers, architects and artists to pursue their wildest dreams - the Burj Khalifa, Palm Jumeirah, Cayan Tower and Ain Dubai are testament to that.
Dubai is a place that has enabled innovative thinkers to pursue their wildest dreams
This mentality is, if anything, quietly becoming more pronounced. Dubai is firmly on the way to becoming
