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First building powered by hydrogen - 7th October 2024

Is it possible to create buildings which run on hydrogen? A hydrogen-powered tower – in Cairo's New Administrative Capital – could be the world's first.

Forbes Media and building developers Magnom are behind the exciting plans. The project hopes to build a 43-floor office block, which will cost approximately $1 billion. Three quarters of the necessary energy will be powered by clean hydrogen, with the rest from solar energy.

Well-known architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill are the designers of the Forbes International Tower, which will be located near Africa's tallest building, the Iconic Tower.

Renewable energy sources are just the start. Magnom intends to use low carbon materials which hardly affect climate through the course of their life. These materials could cut the carbon footprint of the actual building process by 58 percent. To do that, the materials need to be carefully chosen, produced and reused. Water recycling will also take place on the site and will limit the demand for freshwater, an enormous benefit in the dry, desert area.

With this mixture of technologies, Magnom believes its tower will be 'net-negative' – it will take out more carbon than it produces. And it could become the first building of its kind to achieve this.

There are some doubts about whether hydrogen can be produced on this scale, as fossil fuels generally power such huge projects. Magnom says they're working on the issues.

A net negative tower may not be just around the corner, but it should be finished by 2030.