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The secretary general of oil producer group OPEC has said the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow was “definitely a wake-up call.”

Speaking to CNBC at the ADIPEC energy industry forum in Abu Dhabi, Mohammad Barkindo was asked if the deal eventually reached in Glasgow — which included a late compromise on language related to coal — was a success.

“I wouldn’t call it a failure,” Barkindo told Dan Murphy. “I think the U.K. presidency did an extremely good job in bringing back Paris on track in Glasgow.”

“It’s not a mean achievement to rebuild the consensus of Paris in Glasgow if you follow the fractures we saw after the withdrawal of the United States,” he added.

The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, aims to “limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.”

The task is huge, and the United Nations has noted that 1.5 degrees Celsius is considered to be “the upper limit” when it comes to avoiding the worst consequences from climate change.

The COP26 deal sought to build on this and prevent the worst effects of climate change, although it faced stumbling blocks related to the phasing out of coal, fossil fuel subsidies and financial support to low-income countries.

India and China, both among the world’s biggest burners of coal, insisted on a last-minute change of fossil fuel language in the pact — from a “phase out” of coal to a “phase down.” After initial objections, opposing countries ultimately conceded.

For his part, Barkindo was broadly positive about the outcome. “I think John Kerry and his team together with [Alok] Sharma, the president of COP26, did a marvelous job in rebuilding that consensus that was fractured after Paris,” he said.

“Because without that consensus, it would have been impossible to get the Glasgow climate pact.”

Looking forward, Barkindo was firm in his belief that fossil fuels would be important in the years ahead.

“There is no doubt, there’s no contest on this scientific fact that oil and gas will continue to play a prominent role in the global energy mix for the foreseeable future,” he said.

His comments echoed those of BP CEO Bernard Looney, who told CNBC on Monday: “It may not be popular to say that oil and gas is going to be in the energy system for decades to come but that is the reality.”

Oil industry

When it comes to the oil industry more broadly, Barkindo stressed that it had been hit by both low prices and falling investment for a number of years.

“We have not recovered from the 2014-2016 slump, where we saw for two consecutive years nearly 25% or so annual contraction [in investment], and then Covid came last year with about 30% contraction in the industry,” he said.

“With all the challenges of accessing capital, the industry needs to wake up … and face reality.”

This reality would appear to be one increasingly hostile to fossil fuels. In a speech at COP26, for example, the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres left the world in no doubt as to his views on the matter.

“Our addiction to fossil fuels is pushing humanity to the brink,” he said. “We face a stark choice — either we stop it, or it stops us.”

Guterres added that it is time to say “enough.”

“Enough of brutalizing biodiversity, enough of killing ourselves with carbon, enough of treating nature like a toilet,” he said. “Enough of burning and drilling and mining our way deeper. We are digging our own graves.”

CNBC’s Matt Clinch and Sam Meredith contributed to this report.

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Day 1 of the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025 [Gallery]

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Day 1 of the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025 [Gallery]

Today was the official start of racing at the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025! There was a tremendous energy (and heat) on the ground at NCM Motorsports Park as nearly a dozen teams took to the track. Currently, as of writing, Stanford is ranked #1 in the SOV (Single-Occupant Vehicle) class with 68 registered laps. However, the fastest lap so far belongs to UC Berkeley, which clocked a 4:45 on the 3.15-mile track. That’s an average speed of just under 40 mph on nothing but solar energy. Not bad!

In the MOV (Multi-Occupant Vehicle) class, Polytechnique Montréal is narrowly ahead of Appalachian State by just 4 laps. At last year’s formula sun race, Polytechnique Montréal took first place overall in this class, and the team hopes to repeat that success. It’s still too early for prediction though, and anything can happen between now and the final day of racing on Saturday.

Congrats to the teams that made it on track today. We look forward to seeing even more out there tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some shots from today via the event’s wonderful photographer Cora Kennedy.

Stay tuned for more!

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Tesla sold 5,000 Cybertrucks Q2, Optimus is in chaos, plus: the Infinity Train!

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Tesla sold 5,000 Cybertrucks Q2, Optimus is in chaos, plus: the Infinity Train!

The numbers are in and they are all bad for Tesla fans – the company sold just 5,000 Cybertruck models in Q4 of 2025, and built some 30% more “other” vehicles than it delivered. It just gets worse and worse, on today’s tension-building episode of Quick Charge!

We’ve also got day 1 coverage of the 2025 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix, reports that the Tesla Optimus program is in chaos after its chief engineer jumps ship, and a look ahead at the fresh new Hyundai IONIQ 2 set to bow early next year, thanks to some battery specs from the Kia EV2.

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

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Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.


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Tesla launches Oasis Supercharger with solar farm and off-grid batteries

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Tesla launches Oasis Supercharger with solar farm and off-grid batteries

Tesla has launched its new Oasis Supercharger, the long-promised EV charging station of the future, with a solar farm and off-grid batteries.

Early in the deployment of the Supercharger network, Tesla promised to add solar arrays and batteries to the Supercharger stations, and CEO Elon Musk even said that most stations would be able to operate off-grid.

While Tesla did add solar and batteries to a few stations, the vast majority of them don’t have their own power system or have only minimal solar canopies.

Back in 2016, I asked Musk about this, and he said that it would now happen as Tesla had the “pieces now in place” with Supercharger V3, Powerpack V2, and SolarCity:

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All of these pieces have been in place for years, and Tesla has now discontinued the Powerpack in favor of the Megapack. The Supercharger network is also transitioning to V4 stations.

Yet, solar and battery deployment haven’t accelerated much in the decade since Musk made that comment, but it is finally happening.

Last year, Tesla announced a new project called ‘Oasis’, which consists of a new model Supercharger station with a solar farm and battery storage enabling off-grid operations in Lost Hills, California.

Tesla has now unveiled the project and turned on most of the Supercharger stalls:

The project consists of 168 chargers, with half of them currently operational, making it one of the largest Supercharger stations in the world. However, that’s not even the most notable aspect of it.

The station is equipped with 11 MW of ground-mounted solar panels and canopies, spanning 30 acres of land, and 10 Tesla Megapacks with a total energy storage capacity of 39 MWh.

It can be operated off-grid, which is the case right now, according to Tesla.

With off-grid operations, Tesla was about to bring 84 stalls online just in time for the Fourth of July travel weekend. The rest of the stalls and a lounge are going to open later this year.

Electrek’s Take

This is awesome. A bit late, but awesome. This is what charging stations should be like: fully powered by renewable energy.

Unfortunately, it will be much harder to open those stations in the future due to legislation that Trump and the Republican Party have just passed, which removes incentives for solar and energy storage, adds taxes on them, and removes incentives to build batteries – all things that have helped Tesla considerably over the last few years.

The US is likely going to have a few tough years for EV adoption and renewable energy deployment.

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