The holidays used to be UPS’s busiest time. Then came COVID-19
Source: Fortune
New UPS CEO Carol Tomé had left retirement to join the UPS in the middle of a global pandemic. Since then she hired over 40,000 new employees and aims to improve the company culture and employee satisfaction.
In the interview with the Fortune she shared about her road to top as a female leader, and business strategy of providing each customer a personalized business offer, hiring diverse workforce.
Here’s how sustainable aviation fuel can take off in Europe
Source: World Economic Forum
A diverse group of companies from across the aviation industry, namely, airplane manufacturers, airlines, airports, and fuel providers have proposed policy recommendations to the European Commission and the UK government to enable the development and production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels or SAF. Specifically:
Policy support to development of new technologies is needed as many are still in very early stages and need major investment
SAF price needs to be backed by the governments to make it competitive with alternative existing fuels and enable the scaling up of SAF production
There are still many unknowns in SAF technology which means investment is needed with additional risks. Governments need to help mitigate such risks
"SAF blending mandate for European aviation should be announced in 2021, go into effect by 2025, and increase through 2050"
Surprise! India Is Leaping Ahead in Clean Energy
Source: Foreign Policy
India has long been considered one of the largest world's polluters as its nation has been increasing energy use, most of which was produced by burning coal. But in recent years, India has facilitated and invested massivley in renewable energy and is set to surpass the targets of Paris Agreement way ahead of the set deadlines.
With major development in technology India has made history in two areas of renewable energy in 2020:
It has conducted the world’s largest tender for renewable power that no longer requires fossil-fuel backup. This is a major achievement, as due to improvements in batteries, the downtime of wind or solar power production is compensated by stored green energy
ReNew company has agreed to provide solar power to battery storage in an unprecedented low price, making generating and storing renewable energy cheaper than burning coal for the first time in history
Blockchain-based Freightchain launches Thailand cargo routes
Source: Air Cargo News
An interesting digitization development in air cargo industry came to light this week with an announcement of new all cargo routes to be served by Thai AirAsia and Thai AirAsia X planes with blockchain platform. We will be watching this development closely.
Drone Delivery Canada gets approval for commercial BVLOS drone delivery operations
Source: The STAT Times
The Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC) that Drone Delivery Canada received from Transport Canada means the company will be able to conduct the Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) commercial drone delivery for the Beausoleil First Nation (BFN) COVID-19 operations.
This is a significant milestone for the drone company and an example of a country's commitment to supporting emerging technologies.
Emirates Prepares To Distribute The COVID-19 Vaccine
Source: SimpleFlying
Emirates SkyCargo has created a dedicated airside cargo hub in Dubai’for the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine or vaccines.
The facility will be able to to hold around 10 million vials of vaccine at a 2-8 degrees Celsius temperature range at once:
Image credit: Emirates SkyCargo