MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI)

MIT students and staff explored a wind turbine inside and out in Hull, Massachusetts.

Students see clean energy in action on IAP wind turbine tour

Tour gives students a chance to reflect on what drives their interest in renewables.

February 9, 2016

Dispatches from the Paris climate talks

MIT attendees of COP21 share experiences, perspectives on outcomes

February 2, 2016

Marcia McNutt, editor-in-chief of the journal Science

Symposium calls for science-based climate action

Experts examine how MIT can be most effective in addressing climate-change issues.

January 29, 2016

Georgia Perakis, the William F. Pounds Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management

Georgia Perakis: On the road to better energy data

MIT professor uses operations research and optimization modeling to investigate topics from traffic flows to subsidies for green energy technologies.

January 27, 2016

This GridForm model of a village in Bihar, India, shows the optimal layout of hardware for the load profiles of the community. Each building, color-coded by the cost (in Indian rupees) of supplying electricity to that structure, is wired to a central generation/storage node (solid lines), and the nodes are connected to each other (dotted lines).

Going off grid: Tata researchers tackle rural electrification

At MIT’s Tata Center for Technology and Design, researchers are exploring ways to extend electricity access to rural communities in India using microgrids.

January 21, 2016

Governments usually provide subsidies based on overall adoption targets, such as the number of cars or solar panels they would like to see purchased over a period of time. But green technologies are often new products, and no one really knows how many consumers are waiting to buy them.

Sensible subsidies

Study: How should backing for clean technology be designed?

January 21, 2016

Donald Sadoway (right) of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, David Bradwell MEng ’06, PhD ’11, and their collaborators have developed a novel molten-metal battery that is low-cost, high-capacity, efficient, long-lasting, and easy to manufacture — characteristics that make it ideal for storing electricity on power grids today and in the future.

A battery made of molten metals

New battery may offer low-cost, long-lasting storage for the grid.

January 12, 2016

A donkey grazes in a pasture near solar panels at Sanctuary Dairy Farm Ice Cream in Sunapee, New Hampshire.

Concentrating dawn-to-dusk solar energy

MOSAIC award spurs MIT research into concentrator solar cells that can run in shade and full sun with power control and wavelength separation.

January 11, 2016

Preparing for large-scale solar deployment

Researchers are examining measures to ensure a reliable future power system.

December 30, 2015

Angela Belcher (pictured), MIT professor of biological engineering and materials science and engineering; Paula Hammond, professor and head of the MIT Department of Chemical Engineering; Po-Yen Chen PhD ’15 (now at Brown University); and others have shown that a novel, high-efficiency, low-cost solar cell can be made using lead recovered from an abundant, old-technology source: lead-acid car bat...

Solar energy from discarded car batteries

An MIT development could benefit both the environment and human health.

December 22, 2015

Moderator Susan Solomon and panelists Noelle Selin, Jessika Trancik, and Henry Jacoby explored the implications of the global climate agreement in Paris.

History in the making: The outcome of the Paris climate change negotiations

Panel of MIT experts explores the promise and perils of a global agreement.

December 18, 2015

MITEI names co-chairs of Energy Education Task Force

Professors Hager and Ram are the new co-chairs of MITEI’s Energy Education Task Force and the Energy Minor Oversight Committee.

December 18, 2015

Joel Jean (left) and Vladimir Bulović (center) of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Patrick Brown of the Department of Physics have, together with their collaborators, performed a rigorous assessment of today’s many commercial and emerging solar photovoltaic technologies. They conclude that none should be ruled out, given the urgent need to move to a low-carbon...

Study assesses solar photovoltaic technologies

MIT researchers recommend rapidly scaling up current silicon-based systems while continuing to work on other technologies.

December 16, 2015

At the 2015 Paris climate talks, MIT faculty, students, staff, and alumni have been observing negotiations and participating in side events. A few of those participating: (l-r) MIT researcher and Climate Interactive director Travis Franck; PhD student Michael Davidson; MIT Center for Collective Intelligence/Climate CoLab Director Thomas Malone; MIT Climate CoLab project manager Laur Fisher; alumna...

Sharing climate research and strategies in Paris

MIT events throughout climate talks underscore Institute’s global perspectives and partnerships.

December 11, 2015

The Four Undergrads team was first-place winner of the MIT Energy Hackathon.

Reducing waste and inefficiency, while increasing access and profits, propels MIT Energy Hackathon

Eight real-world industry challenges fuel teams’ competitive spirit and impressive results.