For a growing number of people in the Middle East and elsewhere, and for a growing number of reasons, the second answer is becoming a lot more common.

Perhaps the highest-profile example today is Masdar, the UAE-based initiative working to develop one of the world’s most sustainable planned cities: Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City. In partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the city is also designed to become a global hub for clean technology research through its Masdar Institute for Science and Technology.

(Siemens, another partner in the initiative, just won an architectural award for its planned Masdar City headquarters, which is being designed to meet LEED Platinum sustainability standards.)

Masdar, which develops clean-energy projects in other parts of the world as well, is also associated with two other programs with a heavy focus on clean energy and energy innovation: the Zayed Future Energy Prize and the World Future Energy Summit.

In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, IDEA Polysilicon is targeting the world’s photovoltaics markets with plans to build a large-scale polysilicon plant in the city of Yanbu. Scheduled to begin operations in 2013, the facility is expected to be producing 12,000 tons of polysilicon a year by 2015.

“There is tremendous potential for solar energy in Saudi Arabia and the other states of the MENA (Middle East/North Africa) region, which enjoy a lot of sunshine, as solar power is extremely cost effective compared with other energy sources,” said Robert M. Hartung, CEO and chairman of Germany’s centrotherm photovoltaics, which is helping to engineer the Yanbu project.

Even Iran is eyeing a future based more on green than on black gold, especially as other nations have imposed sanctions on its oil exports. Reuters this week quoted Iranian Minister of Petroleum Rostam Qasemi as saying it’s time for the nation to begin developing a renewable-energy sector.

“Reliance on hydrocarbon resources in the long run is neither possible nor meets national interests,” Qasemi was quoted as saying. “Gradual reduction of oil consumption on the one hand and a revolutionary and swift move toward using renewable energies on the other hand are the only appropriate mechanisms which can help the country.”

While global politics might be helping to drive Iran’s green ambitions, other factors are also pushing the Middle East toward more sustainability. The specter of oil depletion is also creating more concern, particularly in Saudi Arabia, which is already finding itself keeping more of its oil at home to meet the energy needs of (and reduce the threat of unrest from) a rapidly growing population.

More and more, the part of the world that’s produced so much of the oil we all rely on appears to be coming to the realization that business as usual isn’t sustainable.

Reuters reports that five deep wells used for the disposal of “fracking fluid” — a liquid cocktail of chemicals used to open up underground shale gas formations in a process known as “hydrofracturing” — have been closed in the wake of a number of earthquakes in the area around Youngstown, Ohio.

The most recent quake, reported around 3:05 pm local time on Saturday, Dec. 31, measured 4.0 on the Richter scale, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). While there were no reports of damage, some 4,735 people responded using the USGS “Did You Feel It?” website.

According to Reuters, Northstar Disposal Services first began injecting used fracking fluid into disposal wells in December of 2010. The first earthquake in the region was reported in March of 2011.

1. Who’s the leading smart-city brand? Which companies are leading the way in helping the world’s cities become smarter, more connected and more efficient? This article provided an overview of our study, “The Greenbang Smart Matrix™ – Smart Cities: How brands compare on marketing vs. capability in the smart-city space.” The key finding? There remain a number of disconnects and opportunities between what companies do and what they say they do.
2. US funds tallest molten salt tower in the world. A look at the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, a 100-megawatt molten salt concentrating solar power tower plant under development in Nevada. The SolarReserve project, backed by a $737 million loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy (DOE), will be the first facility of its kind in the US. The solar plant will store extra energy in molten salt, in effect allowing it to continue providing sun-generated electricity to the grid even at night.
3. What energy innovations will lead the way in 2012? This post described five startups vying for the US Department of Energy title of “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator.” They include Vorbeck Materials, which is working to develop lithium-ion batteries store that can twice as much electricity at high charge and discharge rates as current technology; TrakLok, which is using GPS technology and satellite communications to track and monitor containers in transit; IPAT, a firm researching methods for lower-cost, more efficient titanium powder-making; e-Chromic, which is working to develop a new thin-film window material that reflects sunlight on demand; and Umpqua Energy, a company developing a system that lets a gasoline engine operate in an “extreme lean burn mode” for improved gas mileage.
4. Taipei boasts world’s greenest skyscraper: TAIPEI 101. A  profile of the 1,667-foot (508-meter) tower in Taipei that’s earned the US Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification, the highest level for energy efficiency and environmental design. Innovative design and technology enables the tower to use 30 percent less energy than the average skyscraper, reducing energy costs by some $700,000 a year.
5. From inspired to awful: 8 definitions of smart buildings. What makes a building “smart”? This article looks at definitions from eight different organizations, with descriptions ranging from the dry — “A smart building is the integration of building, technology and energy systems” — to the elegant: “solutions that turn buildings into living organisms: networked, intelligent, sensitive and adaptable.”
6. Incentives fire up UK solar market. A summary of the Greenbang report, “The UK’s Feed-in Tariff: Impact, response and market trends for the decade ahead.” The study found that the British government’s now-threatened feed-in tariff for renewable energy projects helped spark the installation of more than 10,000 solar photovoltaic arrays — most of them on household rooftops — in just six months.
7. In land of photovoltaics, Europe is king. A look at the latest growth in the world’s solar photovoltaic market, with Europe dominating in terms of installed capacity. Germany is the undisputed leader, having added 6.5 gigawatts of new capacity to an existing installed base of 9.8 gigawatts.
8. Smart meters, demand response exert growing impact in US. A look at how both demand response and advanced energy metering are spreading rapidly across the US. By June 2011, 13.4 percent of electricity meters in the US — 9.7 million in all — featured advanced “smart” technologies, compared to 8.7 percent in 2009. Demand response programs have also increased significantly, with the potential nationwide capacity growing from 27,189 megawatts (MW) in 2009 to 31,702 MW in 2010.
9. Futuristic lighting tech that’s here now. Images and descriptions of some of the latest innovations in modern, energy-efficient lighting, from light bulbs that can be wirelessly controlled with Android devices to a lighting control and energy management system that uses power line carrier (PLC) technology to communicate over existing power lines.
10. “Age of cheap energy is over”: IEA chief. Nobuo Tanaka, then chief of the International Energy Agency (IEA) says the world is at a point where a global energy makeover can’t come fast enough. “The age of cheap energy is over,” he said. “The only question now is, will the extra rent from dearer energy go to an ever smaller circle of producers, or will it be directed back into the domestic economies of the consumers, with the added benefits of increased environmental sustainability?”

He is survived by his wife and three children.

“We are devastated by this tragic accident,” said Vahan Garboushian, Amonix founder, CTO and board chairman. “Brian was an incredible leader and our heart goes out to his family.”

A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with an MBA from Harvard Business School, Robertson was co-founder of Sunworks Solar, a solar manufacturing plant developer, and co-founder of SunEdison. He joined Amonix when the company acquired Sunworks in 2009.

Based in Seal Beach, California, Amonix designs and manufactures systems for concentrated photovoltaic commercial solar power. The company has posted a blog on its website where family, friends and partners can share their condolences online.

The joint inquiry was announced today by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).

The outage apparently began around 3:30 pm on Thursday, Sept. 8, around the time an employee of the Arizona utility APS was doing work in a substation near Yuma. “Operating and protection protocols typically would have isolated the resulting outage to the Yuma area,” APS reported later on Thursday. “The reason that did not occur in this case will be the focal point of the investigation into the event, which already is under way.”

Crews were still working Friday to re-energize the 500-kilovolt transmission line at the center of the outage. As of Friday afternoon, all but 200 megawatts of the total 4,300 megawatts of power supply lost had been restored.

FERC and NERC will look into the matter with help from the US Department of Energy and other federal agencies, the California ISO, the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, California and Arizona state regulators, and the companies involved.

“This inquiry is an effective way for us to protect consumers and ensure the reliability of the bulk power system,” said Jon Wellinghoff, FERC chairman.

Entries are now being accepted for the second annual Greenbang Awards, and we’re seeking submissions in 10 categories:

• Smartest Building Offering – Building energy management, sustainable design, design software, etc.
• Coolest Car Innovation – Low-carbon vehicles, EV projects, eco-driving innovations, applications for efficient transport, etc.
• Best Energy Efficiency Project – Efficiency innovations, public information campaigns, community projects, etc.
• Most Innovative Renewables Development – Clean energy projects and strategies, new technologies, innovative financing and business models, etc.
• Top Development in Batteries – Energy storage projects, innovations, new ventures, etc.
• Smartest Data Center Offering – Virtualization projects, efficiency applications, cloud computing, etc.
• Most Forward-Thinking Community Project – Sustainable city initiatives, smart services, school and hospital projects, etc.
• Top Analytics Application – Software, real-world applications, innovations, etc.
• Best Smart Security Initiative – Smart-grid initiatives, business and technology innovations, standards, etc.
• Reader’s Choice – Know any outstanding efficiency innovators or leaders that don’t fit into the categories above? Name your own category and nominate them here.

This year, we’re making the awards process easy — no elaborate PowerPoint presentations, PDFs or multimedia extravaganzas required. Instead, we’re asking for a simple one-minute video that highlights your offering and why you think it should win. (For those who can’t or prefer not to develop a video, we’ll be adding an easy-to-fill-out online entry form next week.)

Email entries to Managing Editor Shirley Siluk at shirley@greenbang.com with your company name, contact information and award category, and be sure to have those to us by the deadline, Friday, Oct. 14. The application fee is $400 US (£250, €290) and is payable online.

Greenbang 2011 Award winners will be announced at our awards event in November (details to be announced soon.)

Winners of the inaugural Greenbang 2010 Awards included SAP (Best corporate responsibility project), 1E (Best IT technology), Onzo (Top smart-grid technology), TelecityGroup (Best data center innovation), Carbon Voyage (Most efficient transport programme), Cawleys (Best sustainable resource management programme), L’Oreal (Best low-energy building), Sony Ericsson (Best cross-organisation sustainability effort) and Verizon (Top in-house sustainability effort).

Sponsorship opportunities for the gathering — which will include leaders from Siemens, Cisco, S&C Electric Europe and LED Lease Solutions, among others — are still available. For more information, or to reserve a spot on the attendance list, contact Greenbang’s managing editor Shirley Siluk at shirley@greenbang.com.

The networking event is scheduled to start at 6:30 pm on Thursday, Sept. 29, at Soho’s LVPO. Attendance is free but limited to top influencers working on smart-city technologies, services and projects.

The 50 Smart City Influencers drinks gathering will provide an opportunity for leaders in clean energy, smart grid, electric transport and low-carbon development to network, share ideas and get the word out on what they’re doing to build more sustainable communities around the globe.

The event is scheduled for 6:30 pm at Soho’s LVPO. Attendance is free, but you’ll need to reserve a spot on the list first. To do that, contact Greenbang’s managing editor Shirley Siluk at shirley@greenbang.com.

The 50 Smart City Influencers drinks gathering will provide an opportunity for leaders in clean energy, smart grid, electric transport and low-carbon development to network, share ideas and get the word out on what they’re doing to build more sustainable communities around the globe.

Sponsorship opportunities for the event are also still available. For further details, email shirley@greenbang.com.

Entries are now being accepted for the second annual Greenbang Awards, and we’re seeking submissions in 10 categories:

• Data center technology
• Cloud computing
• Transport
• Buildings
• Communications/networking
• Home efficiency
• Energy technologies (ie, waste heat to energy, kinetic energy, etc.)
• Public sector project
• Person of the year
• Company of the year.

This year, we’re making the awards process easy — no elaborate PowerPoint presentations, PDFs or multimedia extravaganzas required. Instead, all you have to do is describe your entry, provide at least one case study demonstrating its efficiency, make a case for market need and include at least one third-party comment that validates your entry. We’ve posted a fill-in-the-blanks online entry form in PDF to make the process even easier.

Email entries to Managing Editor Shirley Siluk at shirley@greenbang.com with your company name, contact information and award category, and be sure to have those to us by the deadline, Friday, Oct. 28. The application fee is $400 US (£250, €290) and is payable online.

You can pay the entry fee via PayPal using the form below:

Which award category?

Greenbang 2011 Efficiency Award winners will be announced at our awards event/drinks gathering on November 24 at Grace in London.

Winners of the inaugural Greenbang 2010 Awards included SAP (Best corporate responsibility project), 1E (Best IT technology), Onzo (Top smart-grid technology), TelecityGroup (Best data center innovation), Carbon Voyage (Most efficient transport programme), Cawleys (Best sustainable resource management programme), L’Oreal (Best low-energy building), Sony Ericsson (Best cross-organisation sustainability effort) and Verizon (Top in-house sustainability effort).

The plan would make the chain the largest retail host of EV charging stations in the US.

The charging stations will feature either a high-speed direct current (DC) charger that can add 30 miles of range in as little as 10 minutes of charging time, or a Level 2 charger that can add up to 25 miles of range per hour of charge.

Among the cities expected to see new charging stations being installed starting later this month are Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and Washington, DC. Some locations in Florida, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington will also receive charging stations.

Walgreens already has installations under way at more than 60 stores across Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago.

The retailer last year became the first drugstore chain in the US to install a geothermal energy system at one of its stores (located in Oak Park, Illinois). The company also uses an energy management system that monitors electricity, water, heating and cooling and waste management at more than 1,100 stores to help reduce energy usage and maintenance costs while extending equipment life.