** Electric vehicle sales surpassed more than 10 million last year, a rise of 55% compared with 2021, with China accounting for about 60% of the market, according to an International Energy Agency report.
** The office of U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is facing a subpoena threat from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), who has requested documents related to Kerry’s climate diplomacy work. In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Comer asked for documents containing information about Kerry’s travel, budget, personnel and third-party communications.
** A federal judge approves a $50 million settlement of a class action lawsuit over an oil pipeline breach that spilled thousands of gallons of crude along the southern California coast in 2021.
** CenterPoint Energy’s Indiana-based electric business announced its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) preferred portfolio to further invest in renewable generation and end its use of Indiana coal by 2027.
** Despite the billions of dollars invested by private corporations, and government subsidies, Americans are still indifferent as a whole over electric vehicles. Just two in every 10 Americans say they are “very likely” to buy an EV as their next car, according to a recent survey by the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute and the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
** Toyota’s Zero Emissions Powertrain, or ZEP, has just been given the go-ahead for commercialization by the state of California. The kit seeks to swap out diesel engines on heavy-duty Class 8 vehicles like semi trucks and buses for hydrogen fuel cells.
** Pioneer Natural Resources Co. Chief Executive Officer Scott Sheffield, an architect of the shale boom that made the US an oil powerhouse, will retire for a second time as acquisition talk reaches a fever pitch among North American drillers.
World
** Electric vehicles are on track to capture nearly one-fifth of the global market this year, according to a new report detailing the “explosive growth” of plug-in cars. Global sales of electric vehicles hit 10 million in 2022 and are set to reach 14 million this year, according to a report from the International Energy Agency. EVs, which had just 14 percent of the global market in 2022, will likely account for 18 percent of the market in 2023.
** Italian climate startup Energy Dome, which has developed a “CO2 Battery” for storing renewable energy, has closed a €40 million (~$44M) Series B round — bringing the total raised for its novel energy storage solution to €54M (or just shy of $60M).
** Asia must rapidly cut fossil fuel subsidies and plow more money into a clean energy transition to avoid catastrophic climate change that puts its own development at risk, according to a new report Thursday from the Asian Development Bank.
** The U.S. Navy said Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday amid wider tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program.
** MG Motor, owned by China’s SAIC Motor, on Wednesday launched the lowest-priced electric car in India, as it seeks to take on local rivals like Tata Motors in the world’s third-largest car market.