Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Is January almost over yet? We have a very EV heavy issue this morning as the longest month in the year drags on, with updates from around the region and beyond.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- UAE’s Masdar and the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer Daimler Truck will explore supplying liquid green hydrogen to power fuel cell rig trucks in Europe by 2030.

^^ We have the details on this story and more in the news well, below.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- Biden hits pause on LNG export approvals: US President Joe Biden on Friday greenlit a decision to delay federal approvals for liquefied natural gas exports from several pending projects, setting the stage for potential rejections and slowing down progress on fossil fuel expansions in the country. The US Department of Energy (DoE) will conduct a months-long review during the pause to quantify the economic and environmental impacts of four projects by Sempra Infrastructure, Energy Transfer, and Commonwealth LNG seeking export approvals to Europe and Asia. The EU — which has been seeking LNG imports following an energy crunch triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — says the US decision will not threaten its energy security in the short to medium terms.

The story grabbed headlines worldwide over the weekend:Bloomberg | Reuters | Wall Street Journal | The New York Times | The Guardian | CNBC | The Financial Times | CNN | AP News

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Dewa will add 233 MW to its portfolio this quarter: The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) plans to add 233 MW to its portfolio in 1Q 2024 to increase its clean energy production capacity to 2.8 GW, Wam reported on Friday. The Emirati authority is targeting an overall renewable energy production capacity of 4.6 GMW by 2026. The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park — which commissioned its fourth phase in November — is driving Dewa’s energy transition with an expected production capacity of 5 GW by 2030.

#2- Emirates’ head thinks government mandates on SAF is “not the way to do it,”according to an interview with Sky News Australia (watch: runtime: 4:11). Emirates’ President Tim Clark says governments have “gone too far” to push airlines to use sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) by mandating requirements and fines which can backfire by pushing up costs, Clark stressed.

Mandated, but limited: An airline’s ability to use SAF is capped by limited production capacity due to a lack of investments, Clark added. Progress on SAF production is dependent on “science, the scalability and the investment” from governments and the private sector, he said.

REMEMBER- The UAE cabinet approved the national SAF production guidelines targeting the production of 700 mn liters annually by 2030 last month. The country plans to domestically produce 1% of UAE airlines’ SAF needs at Emirati airports by 2031.

#3- Tesla has a new, low-cost EV in the works: EV giant Tesla will begin producing a mass market compact crossover EV dubbed “Redwood” in mid-2025 to compete with more affordable rivals, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Musk confirmed reports that the company will begin production on its next generation of EVs in 2Q 2025 on a post-earnings call last week, the newswire noted. The Redwood EV could be the USD 25k vehicle teased by the company’s CEO Elon Musk in 2018 and 2020.

Musk also called for trade barriers on Chinese EV companies: Tesla has been facing serious competition in the EV market after recently being dethroned by BYD in 2023 sales. "If there are no trade barriers established, they will pretty much demolish most other car companies in the world," Musk said on the post-earnings call, according to a separate report by Reuters. Global expansion from Chinese automakers and their dominance in battery making has led to concern from companies such as Tesla as well as promises by US President Joe Biden and presidential candidate Donald Trump to limit China’s take over the American EV market.

ALSO- Tesla recalls 200k vehicles in US due to rearview camera glitch: Tesla has recalled 200k Model S, X, and Y vehicles in the US in order to fix a software issue that prevented the rearview camera feed from being displayed, according to a report (pdf) by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released on Friday. The issue will be fixed for free and remotely using over-the-air software updates.

REMEMBER- Tesla had a mass recall of nearly all of the EVs it sold in the US since 2015 — over 2 mn cars — to update its autopilot software after a two-year probe by US safety regulators in December. The EV maker also recently issued a recall of 1.6 mn vehicles — Model S, X, 3, and Y cars — in China earlier this month due to issues with automatic driver-assistance steering and door latch controls.

IN OTHER EV NEWS- Rivian CEO says there’s a lack of choice: EV automakers are not providing consumers with enough models to choose from, US-based EV outfit Rivian’s CEO RJ Scaringe told CNBC on Friday. “What I think we’re witnessing today is a lack of choice,” he said. “There’s not enough vehicles across price points and form factors to give people viable alternatives to their combustion vehicles,” Scaringe told the news outlet. Rivian plans to tackle this issue by introducing its new line of R2 vehicles — which are smaller and more affordable than its current models priced above USD 70k — in 2026.

ON A RELATED NOTE- Lithium prices dropped 80% over the past year hitting USD 13.2k per ton — its lowest since 2020 — as demand for EVs in China slowed, The Financial Times reported Thursday. Miners have hit the brakes on expansion plans and scaled back production amid a surplus of the battery metal, especially in Australia — the world’s leading lithium producer with a 40% share. The excess supply has left stockpiles of unfinished material throughout the supply chain.

#4- Maersk has launched the first of 18 large methanol-enabled vesselsat a ceremony at Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Korea, according to a press release released on Friday. The Ane Maersk is set to enter service at the beginning of February and will be powered by green1 methanol. The vessel will operate between Asia and Europe, according to the statement. The remaining vessels are set to be delivered between 2024 and 2025, each with some 16k TEU capacity. The vessels are fitted with dual-fuel engines that can be powered by methanol, biodiesel, and conventional bunker fuel.

Maersk is getting serious about green methanol: The company signed a framework agreement with Egypt last October through C2X — owned by AP Moller Holding and AP Moller-Maersk — worth some USD 3 bn for the production of green methanol and its derivatives in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. The company plans to produce 300k tons of green methanol per year in the project’s first phase, with that figure set to increase to 1 mn by the end of the final phase.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The UAE will host the Management and Sustainability of Water Resources Conference from Monday, 26 February to Wednesday 28 February in Dubai. Water availability in arid and semiarid regions, global water issues, and future water and environmental challenges are all on the agenda.

Saudi Arabia will host the International Conference on Sand and Dust Storms in theArabian Peninsula from Monday, 4 March to Wednesday, 6 March in Riyadh. The conference will address regional challenges caused by sand and dust storms and discuss monitoring systems, mitigation strategies, economic and infrastructural impacts, and more.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.