The past decade has been an exhilarating ride for producers of frac sand, or silica sand used in hydraulic fracturing. North American shale oil and gas production has surged since 2010, bringing tremendous opportunities to the previously quiet silica sand industry. In 2014, the market for frac sand in North America was 20 times larger than it was a decade earlier, according to a recent study published by The Freedonia Group.

But for every boom, there is a bust. In late 2014, consumption began to decline as oil and gas prices plummeted across the world. Now, instead of embarking on ambitious expansions, frac sand suppliers have idled production and mining operations. The stock price of Fairmount Santrol, the US’s largest frac sand producer, dropped from $16.98 at the time of its IPO in 2014 to a low of $1.23 in January 2016.

Owners and tenants of commercial properties usually only think about their roofs when there is a leak that needs repairing. However, many are discovering that their choice in roofing materials can help them save on their bottom line. 

“Cool roofing” products help reduce energy consumption and lower utility bills — important considerations for all business owners. Materials are classified as “cool roofing” if they reflect a significant amount of sunlight off of a roof surface while also absorbing solar radiation. By doing so, cool roofs prevent heat from being transferred to the interior of the building, causing less strain on air conditioning and keeping cooling costs at a manageable level.

Unquestionably, the leading infrastructure as a service (IaaS) cloud hosting service provider is Amazon Web Services (AWS). The company began offering data storage services in 2006, launching Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) in March of that year, and Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) in August.

The US travel services industry, which includes both traditional and online travel agencies, increasingly faces a new source of competition for booking services: the airlines and hotel operators themselves.

A growing number of airlines and hotels are adopting strategies — such as loyalty programs, fees on third-party bookings, or discounts on direct bookings — to encourage consumers to book services directly with them.

The future of motorcycles is being forged today. Leading manufacturers are developing new technologies with the potential to revolutionize the riding experience. 

This wave of innovation, however, has garnered sparse news coverage. The media has focused on developments in the automotive industry such as self-driving cars and electric vehicles, paying little attention to similar trends in motorcycles. 

You may not realize this, but the newspaper industry has long been in the advertising business, deriving the majority of its revenue from the sale of ad space in print publications. In exchange, businesses purchasing these ads were assured a broad audience of readers. For many years, it was a win-win situation for both sides.

But the digital revolution has changed that. Between 2005 and 2015, newspaper publishing revenues fell at an average annual rate of 7.0%, largely due to advertising losses. In 2015, advertising services accounted for 55% of publishing revenues, down from 71% in 2005.

During the final two presidential debates of 2016, the candidates broadly discussed trade. In a brief exchange, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton asserted that the dumping of steel and steel products from China, Japan, and South Korea into US markets has damaged the domestic steel industry.

Now that he is the President-elect, Trump’s plans for the beginning of his presidential term include tenets that reflect these concerns, such as withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and working with the Secretary of Commerce to end unfair trade. 

Long reliant on advertisements as their primary source of revenue, internet publishers, broadcasters, and search engine providers face mounting challenges to their ad-supported business models.

In particular, the rising use of ad blockers – software programs that prevent internet ads from being displayed – by consumers is threatening to undermine the industry’s key source of revenue.

In October 2016, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that provinces must develop a plan to reduce carbon emissions by 2018 or face a C$10 tax per ton of emissions. This figure would increase by C$10 per ton each year until 2022, when emissions would be priced at C$50 per ton. This tax will only be imposed if provincial leaders fail to come up with a plan to limit emissions of their own.

The new carbon pricing scheme is part of the government’s effort to comply with the Paris agreement. Signed earlier this year, the agreement aims to limit the global temperature increase this century to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. While further reductions will be needed for Canada to fully comply with its international commitment, the proposed carbon pricing scheme is seen as an important first step.

This month’s passing of the Kigali Accord marks a significant milestone in the development of the global HVAC/R industry. Signed by nearly 200 Montreal Protocol countries, the Kigali Accord represents a global commitment to combat climate change and, if successful, will result in the reduction of the equivalent of 70 billion tons of carbon dioxide between 2020 and 2050.

By singling out one type of refrigerant, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the Kigali Accord also presents a substantial challenge to both HVAC/R equipment manufacturers and users.