Arab Saudi dan Emiriah Arab Bersatu (UAE) sedang memikirkan untuk mendapatkan litium daripada air garam yang terdapat di medan minyak mereka untuk memenuhi permintaan yang semakin meningkat untuk kereta elektrik (EV) dan menjadikan ekonomi mereka lebih pelbagai.
Ini merupakan perubahan besar bagi negara yang kebanyakannya menjana wang daripada minyak, apabila dunia bergerak ke arah menggunakan bahan api fosil yang kurang. Arab Saudi, yang diketuai oleh Putera Mahkota Mohammed bin Salman, melabur banyak untuk menjadi pusat EV.
Saudi Aramco dan Syarikat Minyak Kebangsaan Abu Dhabi (ADNOC) baru mula mencari litium daripada air garam, yang merupakan mineral penting yang diperlukan untuk membuat bateri EV. Mereka menggunakan pengalaman mereka dengan mengendalikan air garam minyak dan air sisa untuk memikirkan cara melakukannya.
In a bid to diversify their economies and capitalise on the growing demand for electric vehicles (EVs), national oil companies in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are planning to extract lithium from brine in their oilfields.
The move signals a strategic shift for oil-producing nations as they seek alternative sources of wealth amidst the global transition away from fossil fuels. Saudi Arabia, in particular, has invested significantly in positioning itself as a hub for EVs under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Sources revealed that Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) are in the early stages of exploring lithium extraction from brine, which is considered a critical mineral due to its essential role in battery manufacturing for electric vehicles. However, specific details regarding the extraction technology were not disclosed, and both companies declined to comment on the matter.
Direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology, although in its infancy, presents advantages such as avoiding the environmental challenges associated with traditional mining methods. By filtering lithium from saltwater brine, Saudi Arabia and the UAE can leverage their expertise in handling oil brine and wastewater at oil production sites.
While the Dubai police force has gained fame for having a number of supercars in its fleet, there is no car industry of significance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, there is a company there which personalises and refines cars for the supercar owners. Its name is Huber and it recently showcased a project that pays tribute to Lamborghini Aventador which celebrates its tenth anniversary.
Called ‘ERA’, the supercar has a new kind of aero package, and the team aspires to usher in a new way that automotive design thinks about the aftermarket. Basically, the company’s version has front and rear bumpers with an entirely new design in carbonfibre, and an optional carbonfibre bonnet as well. Additionally, the parts will be available in exposed carbonfibre in various colours.
“While we might be the new kid on the block, we feel that when designing new aero packages for a car, you have to consider both a clean sheet of paper and the North Star of its pre-existing DNA as your guide,” said founder Sean-Peter Huber who, like many in his team, have a background in automotive design. This new generation of designers is driven by the common understanding that the aftermarket can apply new aesthetic elements and functionalities to the techniques of carmakers’ design studios to create a new, improved rendition on some of the world’s most revered supercars.
The fully funded project has nothing to do with Lamborghini and production is complete with first bumper units already promised to select Aventador owners worldwide. Prices are not mentioned but it is obviously the beginning of a new business venture for the company.
It’s not known how long Huber has been in existence although its website says that ‘Huber’s founding mission was to give rise to one-off designs, over the years, the company has developed and evolved a diverse design collection ready for production’.
“The team aims to get many of these designs on the road,” Huber explained, “and the ERA is just the beginning of a range of designs we wish to bring to fruition”. They aim to build a new community of collectors and car enthusiasts who will appreciate professional automotive design in the aftermarket business.
The Aventador as it was when Lamborghini launched it in 2011.
The all-new Land Rover Defender will have its world premiere later this year. In the past, when Land Rover was developing its new models, it would do most of the real-world testing on its own, using its own experienced personnel. Perhaps that was partly to keep details of the new model under wraps till launch.
These days, however, the carmaker must find it also useful to let outside parties check out prototypes. This is especially so if the outside parties operate in extreme conditions and have specific requirements for the transport vehicles.
One such organisation is the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) which was visited by the team carrying out the latest stage of its global testing programme of the new Defender.
IFRC fleet experts put new Defender to the test
A prototype vehicle visited the IFRC global fleet base in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Land Rover engineers demonstrated the vehicle’s breadth of capability to their IFRC counterparts both on and off road. Then the IFRC fleet experts took to the wheel to test the vehicle for themselves on the region’s desert sand dunes and the twisty tarmac of Jebel Jais highway in temperatures over 40 degrees C. The Defender also climbed the tallest mounting in the UAE and reached an altitude of nearly 2,000 metres.
The dunes around Dubai were the perfect place to confirm that this is the most capable Land Rover ever made. It sits on tyres with an overall diameter of up to 815 mm, resulting in a very large contact patch. Coupled with a bespoke traction control system, which monitors and adjusts for a large variety of terrain, this makes the new Defender highly capable on sand and incredibly smooth on road as well.
Global partnership since 1954
The test in Dubai coincides with the renewal of Land Rover’s global partnership with the IFRC – a relationship that dates back 65 years, to 1954, when the first specially adapted Land Rover entered service in the region as a mobile dispensary.
This year marks the humanitarian organisation’s centenary as it celebrates ‘100 Years of Hope’. Over the next three years, Land Rover will support disaster preparedness and response initiatives in locations including India, Mexico and Australia.
“The Red Cross supports millions of people in crisis every year, working in almost every country in the world. We operate in some of the most hard-to-reach places on earth, often working in very difficult terrain, so our teams have to be able to cope with anything. That’s why we’re proud to have partnered with Land Rover since 1954, and to be putting their new Defender to the test, as together they help us reach vulnerable communities in crisis, whoever and wherever in the world they are,” said Ilir Caushaj, the IFRC’s Team Lead For Global Fleets And Logistics.
The session with the IFRC fleet experts complements the global testing programme which has seen prototypes covering more than 1.2 million kilometres in all kinds of conditions. Various activities have also been arranged to give the public a sneak preview of the vehicle, including a dynamic appearance at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed in England.
