Almutairi, Saif

  • Primary Program Transportation & Infrastructure
  • Research Interests Transportation

Biography

Saif Almutairi is an Associate in the Transportation & Infrastructure program at KAPSARC. As a transport engineer, his interests include transport policy and economics, transport modeling, and assessing policy changes related to mobility amid the energy transition. His current research focuses on transport system efficiency, advancing transport policy, and evaluating the impact of emerging technologies on the future of mobility. Saif holds an M.Sc. in Transportation Engineering from the University of Southern California.

Publications

See all Saif’s publications
  • Discussion papers
  • KAPSARC journal articles
Decarbonization Pathways for Asphalt Pavement Mixtures in Saudi Arabia: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach

Decarbonization Pathways for Asphalt Pavement Mixtures in Saudi Arabia: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach

This study conducts a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) of asphalt mixtures in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). It focuses on assessing the environmental impacts of asphalt mixtures produced with and without reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), as well as the use of warm mix asphalt (WMA) technologies to help reduce mixing temperatures. The study also assesses the sensitivity of asphalt mixtures’ environmental impacts (primarily global warming potential – GWP) to changes in transport distances for aggregates and binder (the two main constituents of an asphalt mix), the replacement of oil- or natural gas-produced electricity with solar electricity, and the substitution of diesel burner fuel with natural gas.

11th June 2025
Emerging Policy and Economics Research Priorities for Enabling Low-Carbon Trucking

Emerging Policy and Economics Research Priorities for Enabling Low-Carbon Trucking

Trucking plays a crucial role in sustaining economic activity worldwide, yet its current path of carbon emissions is out of sync with the net-zero goals set by governments globally. As a result, identifying key energy economic and policy research priorities for low-carbon trucking has become increasingly important. We tackle this need with a four-part approach: (i) identifying pressing issues highlighted in the news media; (ii) formulating economic and policy research challenges that address these contemporary concerns; (iii) cross-referencing these research challenges with academic literature to confirm their relevance, and refining them as needed; and (iv) prioritizing the identified research challenges through consultations with a diverse group of transport experts. Our findings reveal seven key themes, each with its own set of research challenges. Among these, the research challenges prioritized by experts include: (i) high-power charging versus battery swapping for battery electric trucks, focusing on market preferences, standardization (chargers vs. batteries), national strategies, and business models; (ii) optimal allocation of government subsidies between deployment of zero tailpipe emission trucks, including battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks, versus refueling/recharging infrastructure deployment; and (iii) a comparative cost-benefit analysis of the EU’s tailpipe versus lifecycle carbon emissions regulations for new trucks.

16th April 2025

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