n Abu Dhabi and Dubai, all those "b"s and "d"s usually stand for billions of dollars. But recent project activity suggests they could just as well represent an economy's breadth and diversity.
   The projects include an $8-billion Emirates Aluminium smelter operation at Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone in Abu Dhabi, announced in February. Embodying the "Can you top this?" ambition behind so many projects in the UAE, the JV between Dubai Aluminium Co. (DUBAL) and Mubadala Development Co., the investment vehicle of the government of Abu Dhabi, aims to produce 1.4 million metric tons per year, which would make it the world's largest single-site aluminum smelter.
   Québec-based SNC-Lavalin, in its own JV with Australian partner WorleyParsons, has been awarded the project's engineering, procurement and construction management services contract, and will see some $200 million in revenues from the job. The first phase should be complete in 2010. When completed and at full capacity, the new smelter will have a power plant capacity of 2,250 MW, with the required gas volume for the project already secured.
   It's just one of several mega-projects on the plates of DUBAL and of Mubadala, including a $5-billion smelter in the Beni Saf industrial zone in Algeria, and a $3-billion alumina refinery at Sangaredi, Republic of Guinea, some 62 miles (100 km.) inland from the Port of Kamsar.
   Of the Abu Dhabi project Abdullah Kalban, CEO of DUBAL, said, "The UAE has already been consistently diversifying the national economy and projects such as this will generate a substantial number of jobs for the UAE nationals."
   That hope was given further substance in April, when DUBAL received 3,500 resumés from UAE nationals at the Careers UAE 2007 Fair in Dubai.
   Employment and education of young UAE nationals – building up the human infrastructure – was a major reason that His Highness, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, in May endowed the "Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation" with US$10 billion in order to "provide hope and opportunity by investing in education and the development of knowledge in the region."
   As reported in the July issue of Site Selection, among the Foundation's many aims is the establishment of research programs and centers and university scholarships. Sheikh Mohammed said the idea was nothing less than the creation of a knowledge-based society that would in turn strengthen and diversify the region's business climate and reduce the region's 14-percent unemployment rate.    Other projects extant in the Emirates range from the Burj Dubai skyscraper (pictured), which this summer became the world's tallest, to new giant cooling units, fresh produce, jewelry and power cables. Port and airport expansions are also taking place on a grand scale.
   Concerns are rising about power and water availability for the crush of projects in the United Arab Emirates. But one project seeks to quell those worries.
   In May, Masdar, the Abu Dhabi government's initiative to promote advanced energy and sustainability measures, announced it would create an enclosed 2.3-sq.-mile (6-sq.-km.) energy, science and technology community that would be the world's first attempt at a completely zero-carbon, zero-waste city.
   According to Masdar, "The city will house the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, the graduate science and research Institute currently being established in cooperation with MIT; research facilities; world-class laboratories; commercial space for related-sector companies; light manufacturing facilities and a carefully selected pool of international tenants who will invest, develop, and commercialize advanced energy technologies. The city will also host Masdar's offices, residential space for employees, as well as a science museum and edutainment facilities."    "Here you will find researchers, students, scientists, business investment professionals, and policy makers all within the same community," said Masdar CEO Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber. "It will be a living example of sustainable development that will position Abu Dhabi and Masdar at the forefront of intelligent resource utilization."
   In addition shaded and transport-enabled layout that will encourage walking, the development will be surrounded by wind farms, photovoltaic farms, research fields and plantations. The new city "will provide up to 1,500 companies with an attractive package of incentives, including a one-stop-shop program of government services, transparent laws, 100-percent foreign ownership, a tax-free environment, intellectual property protection and proximity to nearby manufactures, suppliers and markets."
   Can there be common ground between the company behind the world's biggest smelter and an entirely carbon-neutral city? In late July, Masdar and DUBAL signed an agreement to register a project under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with aluminum smelting.