It is hard to build a net-zero building — one that produces more energy than it consumes — in the middle of a city. For one thing, nearby skyscrapers might block sunlight from reaching rooftop solar panels. For another, urban office buildings are cramped for space, and it generally isn’t possible to set up wind turbines on site.
It’s been a little while since we dedicated proper time to covering revolutionary eHang and its progress with electric vertical takeoff & landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Besides the blisteringly fast pace of several aircraft developments, the company is readying its eHang 216 autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs).
It seems not a week goes by without the introduction of another electric vertical take-off & landing (eVTOL) startup. Today is no exception, with Beta Technologies, an eVTOL startup from Vermont, joining the crowd.
Martine Rothblatt is not your typical person. She is the founder of Sirius satellite radio and vehicle navigation company GeoStar. When her daughter was diagnosed with a rare life-threatening form of pulmonary hypertension, Rothblatt formed United Therapeutics to market medication for others suffering from the same disease. Because pulmonary hypertension often requires a lung transplant, she next created a division of her drug company that focuses on developing artificial and transplantable lungs from pig genetics.
