Dubai’s The World Development is not sensible

July 30, 2007 · Filed Under peak oil 

Dubai is investing $14 billion in building The World (a collection of luxury tourist resorts and private estates built on man-made islands). They are diversifying because their oil is in decline and it is expected their oil revenues will run low in 2016. But is this a sensible plan? In the future when the world is short of energy, the associated air travel, water purification and shipping of supplies will become ever more expensive so only the super-rich will be able to afford to live or holiday there. I believe the present construction is a waste of finite resources and the resorts will be mostly deserted in the future.

Without cheap and plentiful supplies of fossil fuels, Dubai will not be a pleasant place to be. Under natural conditions it would only support a small population of people used to the harsh conditions. As Dubai’s oil goes in to decline, it is expected that the same thing will be happening to other oil suppliers, making oil very expensive as supply fails to keep up with demand.

So to build a massive resort in a place that will need extraordinary amounts of energy to fly in the visitors, desalinate the water, bring in the food and keep everyone and everything cool in the normally unbearable heat seems a strange way to prepare for the decline of oil.2 Responses

  1. debbie Says:

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