High above the city of Aspen, Colorado, the waters of Maroon Creek run past wildflower-filled alpine meadows before flowing into a hydroelectric dam that is helping this famous ski resort to reach its goal of using 100 per cent renewable energy.
The picturesque town, known the world over as a winter playground for the rich and famous, reached its goal of using only renewables in 2015, becoming just the third city in America to have made the transition.
Cop28, the UN climate conference taking place in Dubai from November 30 to December 12, will have a major focus on the importance of renewable energy in the fight against climate change.
Aspen relies on snow for its winter business and has for decades sounded the alarm on climate change.
It committed to reaching 100 per cent renewable energy in 2004 but took more than 10 years to reach the lofty goal.
“When the city started to look at its climate goals and reducing carbon in the atmosphere, it looked to its electric utility and its contribution and it also looked back to say, 'What did we learn from the past that we can bring into the future?'” said Phil Overeynder, a utilities engineer for special projects at the city of Aspen.
While most urban areas have a long way to go to achieve what Aspen has, 180 cities have pledged to turn to 100 per cent renewable energy in the future, according to Environment America, a research and policy centre.
Maroon Creek and the power it provides have played an integral role in the history and development of Aspen, which attracts millions of tourists each year.
“[The] creek not only provides the eventual treated drinking water for the community, but is also a vital part of our hydro production,” said Justin Forman, director of utilities at the city of Aspen.
The dam has been in the same spot since the 1890s, when Aspen was a gold and silver-mining town.
“In the 1970s, we buried that wooden flume and then in the early '80s, we turned the wooden dam into a concrete structure, and we redid the head gate in 1985,” Mr Forman told The National.
Aspen, with its immense natural beauty and resources, has advantages that other cities across the country do not.
Its creeks, which wind down the towering Rocky Mountains, provide a significant amount of power, but not enough for the entire city of a little less than 7,000 people.
“I liken it to using what you have within the vicinity to the best of your ability possible,” Mr Forman said of the city’s strategy.
The city obtains about 46 per cent of its power from hydro, but it had to figure out a green alternative for the rest, looking a little farther afield for a viable additional energy source.
“The rest comes from wind energy projects scattered as far as 800 miles [1,290km] away, across the northern Great Plains,” Mr Overeynder said.
“It's a grid-connected system that brings energy from a distance.”
The grid is made more resilient through the use of other energy sources.
“It's certainly something that other cities and towns could emulate,” Mr Overeynder said.
The city is connected to the Western Interconnection, a huge expanse of networks that powers much of North America.
“It's a series of wires and generators all connected and interconnected to bring electric power to customers all across the western US from Canada and into Mexico,” Mr Overeynder said.
Aspen wanted to show other towns and cities that they can go green without raising energy prices.
“You can make this transition if you do it with a long-term plan in mind,” Mr Overeynder said.
"You can make it in a way that doesn't raise prices and makes this utility reliable."
Past winners of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
2016 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2015 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-GP)
2014 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2013 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2012 Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)
2011 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2010 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2009 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
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How England have scored their set-piece goals in Russia
Three Penalties
v Panama, Group Stage (Harry Kane)
v Panama, Group Stage (Kane)
v Colombia, Last 16 (Kane)
Four Corners
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via John Stones header, from Ashley Young corner)
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via Harry Maguire header, from Kieran Trippier corner)
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, header, from Trippier corner)
v Sweden, Quarter-Final (Maguire, header, from Young corner)
One Free-Kick
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, via Jordan Henderson, Kane header, and Raheem Sterling, from Tripper free-kick)
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Torque: 562Nm at 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.2L/100km
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Her most famous song
Aghadan Alqak (Would I Ever Find You Again)?
Would I ever find you again
You, the heaven of my love, my yearning and madness;
You, the kiss to my soul, my cheer and
sadness?
Would your lights ever break the night of my eyes again?
Would I ever find you again?
This world is volume and you're the notion,
This world is night and you're the lifetime,
This world is eyes and you're the vision,
This world is sky and you're the moon time,
Have mercy on the heart that belongs to you.
Lyrics: Al Hadi Adam; Composer: Mohammed Abdel Wahab
Empty Words
By Mario Levrero
(Coffee House Press)
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
INVESTMENT PLEDGES
Cartlow: $13.4m
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imVentures: $100m
Plug and Play: $25m
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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The specs
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Transmission: 8-speed auto
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Dubai Bling season three
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Dominic Rubin, Oxford
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RESULT
Brazil 2 Croatia 0
Brazil: Neymar (69'), Firmino (90' 3)
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MATCH INFO
Azerbaijan 0
Wales 2 (Moore 10', Wilson 34')
