Hydrogen-powered skyscraper set for Egypt’s new capital

Egypt’s “New Administrative Capital,” a new city deep into construction outside Cairo, has prompted plenty of blue-sky thinking. But few ideas have been as ambitious as powering a skyscraper with hydrogen.

The Forbes International Tower, a 240 meter (787 feet) tall office building due to be constructed close to the Iconic Tower — Africa’s tallest building — was planned from the outset to be environmentally conscious. Designed by Gordon Gill of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the firm behind Central Park Tower, New York, and the upcoming Jeddah Tower, Saudi Arabia, its developer Magnom Properties has now revealed it intends to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint by powering the 43-floor office building via clean hydrogen, supplemented by solar panels on its facade.

Powered by 75% hydrogen and 25% photovoltaics, the building would not rely on a traditional power grid, according to Magnom, its developer. Magnom said constructing with materials with “low-embodied carbon” — materials with reduced associated emissions via their sourcing, manufacture and eventual disposal or reuse — could cut the carbon footprint of its construction by 58%. Meanwhile, water recycling and treatment on site will reduce freshwater demand — vital in an increasingly water-scarce country.

Through these methods, Magnom says it aims to achieve a “net-negative carbon vision” (removing more carbon than it emits) for the skyscraper over its lifecycle, and to become the first skyscraper in the world to register for Zero Carbon Certificate from the International Living Future Institute.