Business  |  Interview

“Electricity is advancing, together with us. But Italy needs a targeted policy”

More than a year after start-up, ABB Italy's plant has 80% of its production from abroad and is already ready to be expanded. “What is holding back the spread of the electric market in Italy is the lack of a targeted policy of intervention at national level,” according to Antonio De-Bellis, E-Mobility Lead Manager and Vice President of Motus-E

By Giuseppe Failla

Business  |  Sustainability

Green bonds, ESG criteria and more: finance for sustainability in infrastructures

The capital market makes various instruments available to investors to finance green sustainability projects. We discuss this with Marco Spano, Managing Director and co-Head of Debt Capital Markets and Financing Group at Mediobanca. With an eye on the Mundys case
By Giuseppe Failla
Business  |  Interview

“ESG ratings, an agency register is needed to contrast the bubble risk”

Credit risk management is increasingly linked to the assessment of companies' ESG risks. A register of ESG rating agents would bring order by offering a better service to the financial market, according to Mattia Ciprian, CEO and founder of Modefinance
By Giuseppe Failla
Business  |  Interview

“Green skyscrapers, opening the new frontier of construction in New York”

The ecological transition in the building sector opens up great opportunities. This is illustrated by the case of Somec, Oscar Marchetto's company, which from the naval has entered the civil sector in the Big Apple
By Giuseppe Failla
Editorial  |  Business

Mundys, born to be a global leader in sustainable integrated mobility service

The Deputy Chairman of Mundys, Alessandro Benetton: “We are embarking on a new chapter in our business journey, joined by the people who have accepted this challenge.” The Chairman, Giampiero Massolo: “We want to serve the communities in which we operate, creating competitiveness and jobs. Whilst our head and heart will always be in Italy, international expansion is our goal.”
By Infra Journal Newsroom
Sustainability  |  Business

Critical resources, energy and cleantech: it's a race between powers

From new routes for fossil resources to innovative hydrogen networks, from metals to rare earths: international crises in recent years have highlighted the critical role of access to resources on the global geopolitical map for international technological competition and industry of the future. Taking stock one year after the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine
By Alessandro Gili, ISPI
Sustainability  |  Business

A phenomenology of the ‘NIMBY’ syndrome and some of its best remedies

It goes well beyond just an acronym and raises similar “symptoms'', in many cases all around the world. Nevertheless, one fact is sure: bypassing local communities to develop much-needed infrastructures is wrong
By Carlo Stagnaro
Business  |  Cities

Innovation Hubs, a key to urban and economic revival

The case of the 'Goccia' district in the Bovisa neighbourhood, reconnected to the city of Milan and the region with a redevelopment plan by Renzo Piano and with works on mobility. Innovation labs for start-ups will be housed in a modern campus aiming at zero emissions and energy self-sufficiency
By Ferruccio Resta
Focus On  |  Sustainability

Everything we know (so far) about nuclear fusion

Profile of a possible new energy source, which would have a limited environmental impact. Scientific research has been at work since the 1950s, but the first power plants may only be realised as of 2050. And meanwhile the world's energy needs are growing
By Daniele Monaco
Cities  |  Sustainability

Utopia or the next revolution? The shape of the smart cities of the future

A line in the desert or hexagonal modules installed on oceans: here are the revolutionary projects of Neom, Oceanix City and other almost utopian smart cities
By Infra Journal Newsroom
Sustainability  |  Business

That subtle balance between policy and "green" batteries markets

Western countries are lagging behind Asian battery producers and a quick shift to e-cars may induce an even deeper reliance from China. The transition to a clean mobility is still ongoing and Europe may find itself cut off from innovation if its policies reveal to be too far behind the market
By Carlo Stagnaro
Business  |  Sustainability

Three events that will lead the global transition to sustainability

Focus on investments and governance strategies: the world change-managing leaders are ready to gather in the next months at The World Climatic Summit, the upcoming COP28 and the Gitex Impact
By Patrizia Marin
Transports  |  Mobility

Italy's first vertiport deployed at Fiumicino Airport

Aeroporti di Roma (ADR), Atlantia, UrbanV, and the pioneer of urban air mobility (UAM), Volocopter, have successfully completed the first crewed eVTOL test flights in Italian airspace. It's the first time such an event ever happened in the Italian air space
By Infra Journal Newsroom
Cities  |  Podcast

Kansai, the first airport on “Neverland”

Designed by Renzo Piano, the Kansai airport stands on the third largest artificial island in the world and is considered a monument of 20th century engineering. But increasingly intense geological and climatic phenomena threaten its future
By Gianluca Cedolin
Focus On  |  Business

Is electrification putting workplaces at risk?

The European plan "Fit For 55" is aiming at reducing emissions in mobility. But the change in production raised concerns among industry associations and components makers, about workplaces put at risk by this radical change. Is the "green" emergency and innovation a foe to full employment?
By Carlo Stagnaro
Column  |  Podcast

Oyapock: a bridge to connect Europe and South America

There is a land border between France and Brazil: French Guiana. It was made possible by a bridge over the Oyapock River. It took 20 years to complete the project, but it was finally opened to traffic in 2017
By Gianluca Cedolin
Focus On  |  Sustainability

The case of “ghost flights” in the skies over Europe

In the midst of the pandemic, some airlines had empty planes take off in order to retain the right to airport slots. A secondary market and the creation of a true Single European Sky could be a solution to this contradiction between outdated rules and the need for greater sustainability
By Andrea Giuricin
Podcast  |  Column

The Panama Canal: "The Eighth Wonder of the Modern World"

An engineering challenge overcome after four centuries, the story of the Panama Canal also intersects with the geopolitical history of Central America. A four-week voyage is reduced to a handful of hours
By Gianluca Cedolin
Interview  |  Business

Flying again, flying better

From vertiports for drones to reading post-Covid markets, from intermodal mobility to hydrogen: these are some of the strategies that the SAVE Group has put in place to lock in on the recovery of the airport sector, which is expected to experience a general revival from 2022 onward. We spoke about it with the CEO, Monica Scarpa
By Daniele Monaco
Mobility  |  Focus On  | 

The countdown to electric charging in the EU has already begun

The Green Deal aims at having one million charging points in the European Union in three years, but problems of several types complicate the take-off of electric mobility. The latest deadline for completing the deployment of a modern infrastructure is 2035
By Daniele Monaco and Jacopo Segatto*
Business  |  Focus On

Keeping the balance of values in an upset world-market

Countries all over the world have rediscovered the value of safety in economy, after two years of pandemic and the outbreak of the war in Russia-Ukraine. But this fair need must not be mistaken as an end of globalization
By Carlo Stagnaro
Mobility  |  Business

Road Usage Charge: sustainably financing a new mobility

Which should be a telematics-based Road usage charge (RUC) system main goal? What kind of problem is it supposed to solve? Malika Seddi, Secretary General at ASECAP*, answers
By Malika Seddi
Column  |  Podcast

The world’s biggest airport: Beijing Daxing

Built in less than five years, Beijing Daxing is the world's biggest airport and a triumph of new technologies. With its unique starfish shape designed by the study of Zaha Hadid Architects, the airport employs the latest new sustainable solutions
By Gianluca Cedolin
Interview  |  Mobility

Occupied spaces: the vital role of mobility

Airports, roads, bridges, railways and ports: bulletins from the Ukrainian conflict underscore the importance of mobility infrastructure as the skeleton of a nation not only in a time of war, but, more importantly, in time of peace
By Teresa Bellemo
Sustainability  |  Cities

Citizens' Energy Communities: the soul of the new smart cities

A challenge for engineering, and not only: the new forms of decentralised, sustainable production and consumption require new forms of community and new behaviour as citizens return to a direct relationship with energy
By Eugenio Morello
Editorial  |  Business

“Green” taxonomy in the EU: an open approach is needed

The principle of “do no significant harm” cannot become an obstacle. Comparative, strategic assessment of the impact of investment would be more effective for supporting the green transition, as part of a shared “vocabulary” guiding sustainable finance
By Claudio De Vincenti
Focus On

Smart grids for energy and the smart cities: a vital combination

The future of energy grids lies in decentralisation: combined with information technologies will supply power to the smart cities of the future, delivering energy just when and where needed
By Sofia Fraschini
Business  |  Interview

Investing in infrastructures as the backbone of innovation and sustainable future

Investors need to spot the new trends in infrastructures, and finance has a big role in promoting ESG and innovation criteria. Which are the most promising sectors and applications? How sustainability concerns are affecting investing choices? Infra Journal meets Fraser Hughes, founder and chief executive at GLIO, the Global Listed Infrastructure Organization
By Daniele Monaco
Interview  |  Mobility

The Italian way to new mobility? Restarts from safety

Alessandro Morelli, Deputy Minister of Sustainable Infrastructures and Mobility, explains to Infra Journal the priorities for transformation of Italy’s infrastructure: “Innovation, research, energy mix. And zero road accident victims by 2050”
By Sofia Fraschini
Interview  |  Transports

Circular runways ideal solution to increase airports’ capacity

Square the Circle. Dutch air traffic control expert Henk Hesselink thinks he’s found the ideal solution to airport congestion – circular runways. But can planes really land in a continuous loop?
By Dave Keating*
Business

Economic growth and social goals: untie the infrastructure procurement knot

With many factors at stake, cost-benefit analysis is not always enough to evaluate infrastructure investments, according to the author
By Carlo Stagnaro
Podcast  |  Transports

The tunnel that links Britain to Europe

The fascinating story of the Channel Tunnel, the maxi-infrastructure that revolutionised travel and communication, cancelling centuries of conflict and political tension
By Gianluca Cedolin
Interview

Carlo Ratti: a look at the progress in innovation

The Italian architect and engineer ramps up international collaboration, never skimping on his ability to elaborate optimistic visions of the future, where technology and sustainability will profoundly change the way we live
By Giulia Zappa
Editorial

Being relevant in a constantly moving world

Infra Journal is born and it aims to be a magazine dedicated to all specialized operators who work within the mobility ecosystem
By Infra Journal Newsroom