It is a matter of great pride that the UAE’s Wetland Pavilion of the Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto, won the Golden Lion for Best National Participation this past fortnight.
In its tenth time of participating at the Venice Biennale, the UAE pavilion investigated a substitute for cement that could be produced from salt. The UAE bagged the top prize for drawing attention to the relationship between waste and production, and finding an alternative to the most commonly used type of construction raw material, namely Portland cement.
The UAE’s plans to tackle climate change are among the most ambitious in the world. By 2030, the country aims to achieve a high level of eco-efficiency, primarily by managing its greenhouse emissions and increasing its ability to adapt to climate change.
For a country that is undergoing rapid economic growth, few changes can have more of an effect on reducing carbon emissions than finding a sustainable way around the use of carbon-intensive raw materials.
For the sake of the UAE’s sustainability ambitions, and indeed the region’s, zeroing in on an alternative to concrete should be considered a priority. Perhaps not many people would know that concrete is one of the most used materials in the region, and the second most consumed material on earth, after water. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are, in fact, the top two cement producers in the GCC.
Environmentalists and stakeholders from the UAE's construction sector understand the importance of reimagining the way we think about the future of our cities. So it came as no surprise that the UAE showcased the alternative cement, the glue of concrete, at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and subsequently, that this innovation was recognised. There was a unique engineering challenge in the conception of the pavilion: to match the region’s demand for cement – a component of concrete, which causes 8 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide – and find a workable substitute, namely, reactive magnesia cement, which is a more sustainable product.
We owe it to the next generations to work with sustainable alternatives to cement
The UAE has abundant access to brine as most of the country’s potable water comes from desalination plants. The problem with brine is in returning it to the sea as waste. The process of making magnesium-based cement from desalination brine not only cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions but also avoids dumping the leftover brine into the Gulf’s water, hence protecting marine life.
Simply put, the challenge is to offset the environmental degradation caused by such practices. At the Venice Biennale, this research was put into practice and the spotlight was on the alternative cement that can build sustainable cities in the GCC and in other countries.
Avoiding habitat destruction should be a priority for industries even beyond construction. In today's world, the job of a civil engineer includes looking for ways to avoid habitat destruction and minimise the use polluting materials. Going ahead, engineers need to piece together what we need and at the same time make do with what we have. Balancing these demands is a challenge.
Engineers and researchers are thus trying to create an alternative cement for the growing construction industry. Through this innovation and use of brine – that would have been discharged in the Arabian Gulf – we could offset almost 20 per cent of the total cement production of GCC countries.
The UAE winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale proves that such solutions for carbon reduction have the potential to tackle climate-related issues in the future.
With capital investment and large-scale production, the development of these alternative techniques can be inexpensive and as profitable as modern cement manufacturing. Needless to say, they can also help the UAE reach its 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
Reimagining how we construct cities and our awareness of industrial waste should point us in a direction that is in keeping with the global sustainable development goals in the 2015 UN development agenda to – among other goals – protect the planet.
We should aim for a future where buildings that now come up are designed to help fight climate change. Civil engineers can begin to rectify past mistakes and devise eco-friendly solutions for the future. Which is ultimately why researchers, including research at NYU Abu Dhabi, and industries have been developing more sustainable alternatives to cement.
Proud as civil engineers are of our predecessors’ achievements, we are not always content with our role in the degradation of the environment. And to make good on some of the mistakes from decades ago, we may need to completely rethink how we go forward in the expansion of our cities. Engineers today no longer have the time and luxury of excess. Making environmental mistakes can add to global warming and endanger the planet. We owe it to the next generations to work with sustainable materials so that we can re-imagine our futures, and we can do this by drawing on lessons from the past.
UAE - India ties
The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner after the US and China
Annual bilateral trade between India and the UAE has crossed US$ 60 billion
The UAE is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India
Indians comprise the largest community with 3.3 million residents in the UAE
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first visited the UAE in August 2015
His visit on August 23-24 will be the third in four years
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visited India in February 2016
Sheikh Mohamed was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2017
Modi will visit Bahrain on August 24-25
MATCH DETAILS
Juventus 2 (Bonucci 36, Ronaldo 90 6)
Genoa 1 (Kouame 40)
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2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Sub Regional Qualifier
Event info: The tournament in Kuwait is the first phase of the qualifying process for sides from Asia for the 2020 World T20 in Australia. The UAE must finish within the top three teams out of the six at the competition to advance to the Asia regional finals. Success at regional finals would mean progression to the World T20 Qualifier.
Teams: UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Maldives, Qatar
Friday fixtures: 9.30am (UAE time) - Kuwait v Maldives, Qatar v UAE; 3pm - Saudi Arabia v Bahrain
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Tim Paine (captain), Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner
UNpaid bills:
Countries with largest unpaid bill for UN budget in 2019
USA – $1.055 billion
Brazil – $143 million
Argentina – $52 million
Mexico – $36 million
Iran – $27 million
Israel – $18 million
Venezuela – $17 million
Korea – $10 million
Countries with largest unpaid bill for UN peacekeeping operations in 2019
USA – $2.38 billion
Brazil – $287 million
Spain – $110 million
France – $103 million
Ukraine – $100 million
Top financial tips for graduates
Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:
1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.
2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.
3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.
4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.
FIXTURES
UAE’s remaining fixtures in World Cup qualification R2
Oct 8: Malaysia (h)
Oct 13: Indonesia (a)
Nov 12: Thailand (h)
Nov 17: Vietnam (h)
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" 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 as 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 had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
First-round leaderbaord
-5 C Conners (Can)
-3 B Koepka (US), K Bradley (US), V Hovland (Nor), A Wise (US), S Horsfield (Eng), C Davis (Aus);
-2 C Morikawa (US), M Laird (Sco), C Tringale (US)
Selected others: -1 P Casey (Eng), R Fowler (US), T Hatton (Eng)
Level B DeChambeau (US), J Rose (Eng)
1 L Westwood (Eng), J Spieth (US)
3 R McIlroy (NI)
4 D Johnson (US)
