Supernal’s decision to pause work on its eVTOL aircraft is a signal that the sector is entering a different phase. Hyundai created Supernal with strong funding, a long timeline, and a clear plan to bring a five-seat air taxi to market around 2028. If a global automaker with significant resources … [continued]
The publication of Kim and Macfarlane’s 2026 study on small modular reactors is a moment worth pausing over. Nuclear energy sits at the margins of most serious decarbonization pathways today, but SMRs have been marketed as the technology that could change that. They are advertised as cheaper, safer, faster to … [continued]
I recently read Why Nations Fail, the 2012 book by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, who won the Nobel Prize in 2024 for Economics for their work on how institutions shape economic prosperity, and was struck by how confidently it placed the United States on a path of enduring greatness. … [continued]
BYD and Shenzhen Port Group recently signed an agreement to expand cooperation between the automaker and port operator. While this news largely flew under the radar, the scope of the agreement goes far beyond BYD’s home ports to develop international logistics and decarbonize global shipping. As reported by Chinese shipping … [continued]
The United States North American Council for Freight Efficiency’s (NACFE) Run on Less is underway again, and the lineup is broad. Battery electrics are sharing the road with renewable diesel tractors, natural gas trucks, and a pair of hydrogen fuel cell units. That variety is interesting because it reflects the … [continued]
The sprawling Hyundai Metaplant campus in Georgia will host a new EV battery factory, though an immigration raid at the site has halted construction for now,
Mass timber is being promoted as a way to cut carbon in construction, speed up schedules, and reduce costs. But there is another lens through which to view it that comes from project management research. Professor Bent Flyvbjerg has spent decades studying why large projects fail and what can be … [continued]
Mass timber has moved far beyond the novelty stage. Cross laminated timber and glulam started to gain attention a decade ago as materials that could replace concrete and steel in mid-rise buildings. Since then the technology has advanced, codes have adapted, and architects and engineers have pushed the limits of … [continued]
In 2019, South Korea announced a program that was meant to make the country a global leader in hydrogen transportation. The government declared that all 802 police buses then in service would be replaced with hydrogen fuel cell models by 2028. These were not ordinary buses. They were national security … [continued]
Canada is preparing to spend potentially half a trillion dollars on major infrastructure projects that will shape the economy and society for decades. The list spans ports, high speed rail, hydroelectricity, nuclear, mining, oil and gas, carbon capture, offshore wind, and transmission. On paper it looks like a bold nation … [continued]
