MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI)

Professor Kristala Jones Prather leads a discussion at MITEI about the future of biofuels — and whether the prime window of time for their deployment has already passed or has not yet come. Prather argued for the latter. “I think it’s too early,” she told the undergraduates. “We just haven’t spent enough time on the problem yet.”

Kristala Prather: Advancing energy-efficient biochemistry

Associate professor of chemical engineering talks about the future of biochemistry and the next generation of scientists and engineers.

July 16, 2018

An MIT team performing fundamental studies of systems for cooling and dehumidifying indoor spaces includes (l-r): Professor Leslie Norford, graduate students Tianyi Chen and Omar Labban, and Professor John Lienhard. Chen and Labban began the work when they teamed up for an assignment in an advanced energy conversion class taught by Professor Ahmed Ghoniem (not pictured).

Cooling buildings worldwide

Analysis points the way to energy-efficient systems that take a location-specific approach to cooling and dehumidifying places where people live and work.

July 11, 2018

An MIT study estimates the impact of a trade war between the U.S. and the rest of world when the U.S. alone does not comply with the Paris Agreement. The aim of such a trade war would be to compel the U.S. to meet its Paris pledge.

What is the likely outcome of a trade war between the U.S. and the rest of the world?

Study highlights economic losses for participating countries.

June 26, 2018

Bruno Verdini discusses strategies for natural resources negotiation with MIT Energy Initiative Communications Director Emily Dahl at a MITEI seminar.

3Q: Winning together in negotiation

Bruno Verdini, executive director of the MIT-Harvard Mexico Negotiation Program, discusses his award-winning research on negotiating for mutual gains.

June 21, 2018

Bruno Verdini explored the keys to successful high-stakes negotiations by interviewing dozens of people who worked together to settle long-running disputes between the United States and Mexico over shared natural resources in the Colorado River and the Gulf of Mexico.

Natural resource negotiations for mutual gains

Through research on U.S. - Mexico hydrocarbon drilling rights negotiation, Bruno Verdini provides insights on how to resolve conflicts through proactive collaboration.

June 21, 2018

Several years ago, Daniel Cohn (left) and Leslie Bromberg took on the challenge of designing a low-emissions, fuel-efficient replacement for the polluting diesel engines traditionally viewed as the only viable option for powering heavy-duty trucks. Using sophisticated computer models developed by Bromberg, they’ve now produced a conceptual design for an engine that should be up to the task.

Getting the world off dirty diesels

Gasoline-alcohol engines for heavy-duty trucks could produce a meaningful improvement in global air quality.

June 13, 2018

3Q: Ernest Moniz on the Vatican climate dialogue

Professor emeritus and former U.S. energy secretary reflects on recent meeting with Pope Francis and energy and finance leaders.

June 12, 2018

Left to right: Seed Fund awardees Ahmed Ghoniem, Betar Gallant, Karthish Manthiram, and Bilge Yildiz.

MIT Energy Initiative awards nine Seed Fund grants for early-stage energy research

Awardees will use grants to advance research in areas including energy storage, renewables expansion modeling, and the chemistry of electrocatalysts.

June 1, 2018

Abigail Krich, founder and president of Boreas Renewables, discusses New England's impending energy market transition from natural gas domination to a greater proliferation of renewables.

3 Questions: New England’s wholesale electricity markets

Boreas Renewables' Abigail Krich discusses the incompatibility of New England’s electricity market structure with achieving carbon emissions reduction goals.

May 23, 2018

Kouichi Murakami (left), general manager of corporate research and development at IHI Corporation, meets with MIT Energy Initiative Director Robert Armstrong.

IHI Corporation to support MIT Energy Initiative

Tokyo-based IHI will join MITEI’s Low-Carbon Energy Center for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage to reduce greenhouse gases and advance clean energy.

May 15, 2018

“What this study shows is that rather than shut down nuclear plants, you can operate them in a way that makes room for renewables,” says MIT Energy Initiative researcher Jesse Jenkins. “It shows that flexible nuclear plants can play much better with variable renewables than many people think, which might lead to reevaluations of the role of these two resources together.”

Keeping the balance: How flexible nuclear operation can help add more wind and solar to the grid

Model finds operating nuclear plants flexibly can reduce electricity costs, increase revenue for nuclear plants, and cut carbon emissions in electric power systems.

April 25, 2018

At Michigan State University’s W. K. Kellogg Biological Station, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center researchers are evaluating the performance of a variety of novel bioenergy crop production systems for crop yield and quality, impacts on microbial-plant interactions, biogeochemical and biodiversity responses and water use.

Gauging the effects of water scarcity on an irrigated planet

Study projects likely impacts on food prices, bioenergy production, and deforestation.

April 19, 2018

Tata Center adds eight new projects to its 2018-2019 portfolio

MIT principal investigators will receive funding and support for projects seeking an impact in the developing world.

April 12, 2018

Putting a price on carbon, in the form of a fee or tax on the producers of fossil fuels, can be an effective way to curb emissions of greenhouse gases.

Carbon taxes could make significant dent in climate change, study finds

Several different carbon-pricing approaches would help reduce emissions, and some would be fair as well, researchers report.

April 6, 2018

Daniel Kammen, professor of energy at the University of California at Berkeley, spoke on clean energy innovation and implementation in a talk at MIT.

3 Questions: Innovating for the clean energy economy

Daniel Kammen of the University of California at Berkeley discusses current efforts in clean energy innovation and implementation, and what's coming next.

March 28, 2018

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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