Every house and factory was thickly stained with soot, from the oil that was extracted and refined by the shores of the Caspian Sea.
Baku was the world's first oil town: pioneering wells were dug in the 1840s, followed by refineries from 1859. Alfred Nobel's brothers came in the 1870s and established what became a large oil industry, contributing a sizeable portion of their fortune to establishing the Nobel prize. People take pride that oil produced here helped win the second world war, supplying Russia's army fighting Adolf Hitler on the eastern front.
There are still oil wells in Baku, their piston pumps nodding in rhythm while the flares of refineries stand out clearly against the night-time skyline.
Today, fossil fuels make up 90% of Azerbaijan's exports: the petrostate pioneer is still one of the top 10 most oil and gas-dependent economies in the world.
Gone, though, are the blackstained buildings that gave the city its nickname.
In the past two decades, an intensive cleanup operation has turned central Baku into White City. Soviet-era blocks have been reclad in gleaming beige facades.
So convincing is the 19th-century styling that it is hard to believe most of it is barely 10 years old the only clues are on a few streets where the transformation has yet to be completed, and the neat new fronts contrast with a back view of flaking concrete.
Azerbaijan is hoping to effect the same transformation in the energy sector, first on its own, and then on the rest of the world's oil-drenched economies.
President Ilham Aliyev has declared his country "in the active phase of green transition", with targets to generate 30% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030, up from about 7% today.
Bu hikaye The Guardian dergisinin July 30, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Guardian dergisinin July 30, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
First mass 24-hour event to help people put down their phones
Haunted by a pile of unread books? Or taunted by outdoor kit lurking in the cupboard? If you are one of the British adults who spends on average five hours a day looking at screens rather than participating in pastimes, perhaps it's time to join the offline revolution.
No longer the king of bling The staggering fall of rap star Sean 'Diddy' Combs
Brooklyn's grim Metropolitan Detention Center is, for the foreseeable future, home to Puff Daddy, AKA Sean Combs, one of the best-known voices in American entertainment and whose business empire once seemed to know no bounds.
Brandenburg stakes Last-minute push by German far right in key regional election
B jörn Höcke shielded his eyes from the lights as he peered from the stage into the crowds gathered on a square in front of a gothic church in central Cottbus.
'It's guerrilla war' The fire teams facing arson chaos in Amazon
The occupants of the military tents at this remote jungle camp in Brazil's wild west T survey the hellscape surrounding them.
"The horror of it' Trial of husband and 50 men accused of wife's rape shakes France
On the narrow streets of stone houses with pastel-blue shutters, residents of Mazan were appalled that this picturesque village in Provence was being referred to in the media as \"the village of the rapists\".
West End revival Will a traffic ban lure shoppers back to Oxford Street?
From the rooftop of John Lewis's flagship store, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, laid out the changes planned for Oxford Street below: \"We want a public realm that is world class, green, healthy and safe but also increases footfall in the shops.\"
Live and let fly James Bond chopper firm awaits decision on £1bn deal
The Merlin helicopter sitting on a factory floor in Yeovil is a sight familiar to James Bond aficionados from the climactic shootout of the 2012 film Skyfall.
Mental illness is Britons' biggest health concern, survey finds
Mental health has overtaken cancer and obesity as the health issue that is the biggest cause of concern for most Britons, a global survey reveals.
Noise, crime, crowds Rise in tourism stokes tensions in bustling Lake District town
Even on a weekday afternoon at the very tail end of summer, Bowness-onWindermere is bustling with life. Outside the town's pubs and bars, drinkers sip lager and sparkling wine in the warm September sun.
EU's new proposals on youth mobility will put Starmer 'reset' to test
Fresh proposals to allow young people to move between Britain and the EU will be presented to the British government within weeks, in what is seen as a significant early test of Labour's \"reset\" in relations with Brussels.