‘Life is like it is’: TotalEnergies CEO defends strategy despite calls to cut fossil fuel production
The chief executive of TotalEnergies defended the firm’s greenhouse gas emissions strategy, saying the company remains committed to oil and gas despite repeated warnings that increasing fossil fuel production will only make matters worse.
Speaking to CNBC’s Dan Murphy in Vienna, Austria on the sidelines of an OPEC conference, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said Wednesday that the company had allocated nearly one-third of its capital expenditure to low-carbon technologies, with the remainder spent on oil and gas.
“We are in both pillars, and we will remain on both pillars [for a long time],” Pouyanne said.
“Today, our society requires oil and gas … Why we are together, it is 80% of fossil fuels. There is no way to think that overnight we can just eliminate all that and rely only on 10% of low-carbon energy. It will take decades to build a new system,” he added.
“So, we must do two things: To continue to produce the oil and gas, [while] of course being very strict on the emissions. The question is not fossil fuels, it is emissions, to lower the emissions.”
His comments come just over one month after French riot police fired tear gas at hundreds of climate activists trying to prevent the firm’s annual general meeting. Activist groups had pledged to try to stop the shareholder meeting from taking place to denounce the group’s fossil fuel expansion plans.
TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said the company had allocated nearly one-third of its capital expenditure to low-carbon technologies, with the remainder spent on oil and gas.
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The burning of fossil fuels, such as oil and gas, is the chief driver of the climate emergency. The world’s leading climate scientists, collated by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, have said tackling the crisis requires “immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors.”
The IPCC’s message, which was approved by governments across the globe, underscored the need for a substantial reduction in fossil fuel use to curb global heating, now at 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
U.N. chief Antonio Guterres, meanwhile, has warned that investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure is “moral and economic madness” and such investments will come to be seen as “a blot on the landscape and a blight on investment portfolios.”
‘Huge challenge’
TotalEnergies’ Pouyanne acknowledged criticism from climate campaigners that the company has not moved quickly enough to accelerate the energy transition, but said the “huge challenge” was to reconcile the security of supply with affordability and sustainability.
“If we don’t invest enough, the [oil] price will not be $75 per barrel, it will be $150 or $200 and all consumers will be super unhappy and our life will be a nightmare,” Pouyanne said.
“So … producing with strict new standards demonstrating that we can produce oil and gas in a very smart way with lower emissions. At the same, we invest in the new low-carbon energy, and we do it in a large way.”
He described the spike in energy prices in 2022 as a “catastrophe” following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“So, let’s keep this balanced. It’s difficult. I know the scientists told us you should forget [fossil fuels] — but life is like it is. We must make that transition at the pace which can be accepted by the society. That’s also one condition of the success.”
Oil industry should set carbon targets at COP28
The protest at TotalEnergies’ AGM on May 26 came at a time of palpable frustration among climate activists during the proxy voting season, with demonstrations also taking place at British oil majors BP and Shell after an extraordinary run of record profits across the industry.
Investors at TotalEnergies’ shareholder meeting ultimately rejected an activist resolution calling on the company to align its climate targets with the landmark Paris Agreement and commit to absolute carbon emission cuts by 2030.
The resolution, filed by Dutch actvist shareholder group Follow This and 17 institutional investors with 1.1 trillion euros ($1.2 trillion) under management, received 30% of the vote, up from 17% the last time a similar vote was held in 2020.
Protesters outside the Salle Pleyel venue in Paris could be heard chanting “all we want is to knock down Total” and “one, two, three degrees, we have Total to thank.”
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Asked how the company can seek to convince skeptical observers following a shareholder rebellion over TotalEnergies’ greenhouse gas emissions strategy, Pouyanne replied: “I didn’t see a shareholder revolt. No, I saw an NGO revolt, which is not the same.”
“We have to respect the ideas of everybody,” Pouyanne said. “The point is that we have a strategy which is exposed to our shareholders — by the way, if I am listening to most of my shareholders, I think I would do more oil and gas and maybe less green. So, we try to find the right balance. Maybe we don’t satisfy everybody.”
TotalEnergies, which aims to become a net zero company by 2050, has pledged to reduce emissions from all of its products by 40% in 2030.
Pouyanne called on the world’s oil and gas companies to set targets to reduce emissions from methane, a potent greenhouse gas, at the COP28 climate summit — which will be held in the United Arab Emirates later in the year.
He also urged the oil and gas industry to adopt targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions from their own operations, known as Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, by 2030 at the U.N. summit. The vast majority of emissions, however, are generated by customers’ use of an oil major’s oil and gas, known as Scope 3 emissions.
Kia owners were supposed to get access to Tesla Superchargers on January 15, but that timeline was recently delayed. Some owners had figured out a loophole to charge, but it turns out, that loophole is now closed.
It’s been a busy time for the North American EV industry’s transition to NACS, the charging standard originally advanced by Tesla and now standardized by SAE.
We’ve recently seen several brands added to the “coming soon” list, and even beyond that, VW and Honda have both made their own announcements that access is coming soon.
But this past couple weeks were supposed to be even busier, with Kia having previously planned to roll out Supercharger access on January 15th, according to an announcement the company made back in September. Unfortunately there was a delay, and Kia owners will have to wait until later this quarter for official support.
In the meantime, though, owners had found that you could trick the system into letting you charge by telling it that you have a Hyundai. Hyundai and Kia both build their EVs on the same E-GMP platform, so there are a lot of similarities between them.
Kia, like Hyundai, is also in the process of shipping some of the first vehicles with a native NACS port, with the 2025 EV6 including a native NACS port, much like the 2025 Ioniq 5 does. So this similarity seemed to be able to trick the Supercharger network, and Kia EV6s could charge on it for a little while, assuming use of a third-party adapter.
Last week, we reported on this loophole, and were hearing of many owners who had success charging.
But that method no longer works, according to several Kia owners. Now, when attempting to charge at a Tesla Supercharger with an EV6 and adapter, the Tesla app will tell you “Unknown error occurred – Your vehicle is not able to charge at Superchargers at this time.” This has been confirmed to be the case even on Supercharger sites that were previously working.
Probably one of the reasons for this is the use of third-party adapters. While third-party adapters are available, manufacturers are always wary when owners use non-verified equipment – especially when it’s related to the most expensive part of the car, the battery.
Kia themselves told us that “warranty coverage may be impacted by use of a third party or aftermarket adapter, and we expect to have our authorized version available in late Q1 2025” when we contacted them about our previous article (though we’re not sure how that would shake out legally – there are a lot of laws covering car warranties and what can and cannot void them).
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen some mix-ups with Supercharger access. Last November, Tesla announced that Nissan cars had access to Superchargers, but it turned out they jumped the gun. Everything is hunky-dory now for Nissan, and it seems like a bunch of new brands will gain access in the coming months, but we expect a few more fits and starts along the way (chaos tends to happen when you fire the whole Supercharger team for no reason).
But, once EV6s do gain access to Superchargers, we expect to see them show exceptional charge performance. The EV6’s cousin, the Ioniq 5, recently showed that it can charge faster than a Tesla, even on Tesla’s home turf. The EV6 should be able to accomplish similar feats, once it is unleashed onto North America’s biggest charging network.
If you’re looking to buy one of the fastest-charging EVs on the road today, use our link to check local dealers and get in line for when they get the new 2025 Kia EV6s in stock.
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Jaguar Land Rover’s investment arm InMotion Ventures has invested $2 million in rare earth magnets recycling company Cyclic Materials, bringing its Series B funding round to $55 million.
Jaguar Land Rover’s InMotion Ventures has invested in a range of technologies including supply chain traceability, battery repair, reuse and recycling, and now, rare earth magnets recycling.
“Cyclic Materials is leading the way in creating a sustainable supply chain for rare earth elements (REEs) and critical materials,” said Mike Smeed, managing director at InMotion Ventures. “Their innovative technologies address a vital need for rare earth magnets recycling, supporting the automotive industry’s transition toward a cleaner and more resilient future.”
Cyclic Materials says it will use the investment to accelerate the expansion of its operations across North America and Europe, boost its processing capabilities, and refine its recycling technologies.
This Series B extension builds on Cyclic Materials’ earlier $53 million round that already has the backing of BMWi, Microsoft, and Hitachi.
Rare earth magnet recycling
Rare earth magnets are a type of permanent magnet made from alloys of REEs, which are part of a set of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table. Rare earth magnets, particularly neodymium magnets, are essential in electric traction motors in EVs. Their strong magnetic fields help deliver high performance and efficiency, which extend an EV’s driving range and reduce battery load.
Rare earth magnets can also be found in everything from data centers and wind turbines to cell phones and power tools.
However, less than 1% of REEs are currently recycled, while the global demand already exceeds supply and is projected to grow threefold by 2030. Ontario-based Cyclic Materials says its proprietary MagCycle and REEPure technologies recycle REEs from a wide range of end-of-life products, establishing a circular supply chain for recycled Mixed Rare Earth Oxides.
Read more: Solar overtakes coal in the EU, and gas declines for 5th year running
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Nissan plans to buy 20 GWh of batteries from SK On, enough to power around 300,000 EVs to be sold in the US. However, after delaying EV production in the US again, when will the new EVs finally arrive?
Nissan revealed plans to invest $500 million in its Canton, Mississippi, plant almost three years ago to prepare the facility for its newest electric vehicles.
Production was initially set to begin in Canton this year, but Nissan pushed the start date back until 2026 last January with concerns over profitability and EV demand. According to the Madison County Journal, the company is now pushing the start date until 2028.
Just yesterday, an Automotive News report claimed Nissan was also canceling plans to build a smaller electric SUV in the US. The SUV was expected to sit between the LEAF and Ariya.
The smaller electric SUV was expected to be the fifth EV built in Canton, following a pair of Nissan and Infiniti electric sedans. Nissan spokesperson Brian Brockman said the company was focusing on other, more profitable projects that would see more demand.
Nissan to buy batteries from SK On for new EVs in the US
Despite the delays, the automaker is still expanding its supply chain in the US to prepare for the upcoming EVs.
A Nikkei report on Thursday claimed that Nissan secured a battery supply from SK On for EV models sold in the US. Nissan agreed to buy 20 GWh of batteries, or enough to power roughly 300,000 EVs.
The automaker will reportedly begin installing the new SK-supplied batteries by 2028, which is when it plans to start building EVs in the US.
Nissan’s battery supply deal comes as the company looks to establish a domestic supply chain for EVs in the US.
Although Nissan announced plans to team up with Honda in December to keep pace with EV leaders like BYD and Tesla, it doesn’t expect to realize any substantial benefits until around 2030.
Nissan Motor’s, including Infiniti’s, US market share has dropped 2.1% over the past five years to just 5.8%. In 2024, the automaker sold just over 31,000 electric vehicles in the US, including roughly 20,000 Ariya models and 11,000 LEAFs.
Honda, which began delivering the Prologue just last March based on GM’s Ultium platform, sold over 33,000 models last year.
The new battery supply deal is a start, but in 2028, Nissan will face an influx of new EV models with which it will have to compete.
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