The prestigious, energy and sustainability-focused global platform, World Future Energy Summit, hosted by Masdar as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, began Monday with five simultaneous thought leadership forums. The Solar & Clean Energy, EcoWASTE, Climate & Environment, Smart Cities, and Water forums will run until Jan. 19, 2022 at ADNEC Abu Dhabi.  Organized in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy and NEOM Electricity & Water, the World Future Energy Summit 2022 featured case studies and presentations by leading regional government entities including Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, NEOM, TAQA, Tadweer, ENEC and EWEC. Future energy and sustainability leaders presenting new technologies and participating in panel discussions included Total, BP, NEXTracker, Sungrow, GHD, Ecoppia and Rolls Royce.

WEP 2022 will explore tipping points—stress events such as climate change, pandemics, resource shortage, rapid population growth, and more. What makes tipping points happen? How can we predict when they will occur? And how can we adapt, recalibrate and bounce back stronger?  The keynote speaker is the highly esteemed economist Jeffrey D. Sachs, from Columbia University. Sachs is a university professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where he directed the Earth Institute from 2002 until 2016. He is also president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and a UN Broadband Commission for Development commissioner.

NEOM wants to convince the world that mining can be done in a sustainable manner, according to the CEO of the megacity being built on Saudi Arabia’s northwest Red Sea coast.  Speaking at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh on Thursday, Nadhmi Al-Nasr said that the  $500 billion project is starting with “no legacy” when it comes to excavations, but has ambitions to bring “technology and innovation” to the sector.

Lucid has barely started production of its first all-electric model, the Lucid Air, while already a new plant emerged on the horizon.  According to Automotive News, Lucid's electric vehicle plant in Saudi Arabia might be built by 2025 or by 2026.  Unofficial sources point out that the potential location might be the Red Sea city of Jeddah or NEOM, a new city in the northwest of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has hired Nicolla Hewitt Communications Corp. for outreach to broadcast, print and social media about the reforms and changes underway in the Kingdom under its de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.  A new disclosure recently filed with the Department of Justice says Hewitt will be conducting freelance work for Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Media and “will perform general public relations and media outreach services, including outreach to broadcast, print and social media about the changing way of life in Saudi Arabia.”

NEOM, the $500 billion jewel in the crown of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 plans, took several strides forward in 2021 with the announcement of two major projects and news that the region could welcome its first visitors in 2024. The new net-zero megacity on the Kingdom’s northwest Red Sea coast will cover 10,000 square miles, an area 33 times the size of New York, and will be powered entirely by clean energy.

The futuristic city is expected to welcome its first residents by 2024, says CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr