Using nature’s structures in wooden buildings
A new approach enables architects to use discarded tree forks as load-bearing joints in their structures.
MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI)
New maps show airplane contrails over the U.S. dropped steeply in 2020
The computer-vision technique behind these maps could help avoid contrail production, reducing aviation’s climate impact.
Can the world meet global climate targets without coordinated global action?
Growing demand for an energy transition could move the needle, but not far enough.
Tuning in to invisible waves on the JET tokamak
Research scientist Alex Tinguely oversees an antenna diagnostic used on the U.K.’s record-breaking fusion experiment.
Investors awaken to the risks of climate change
At the MIT Energy Initiative’s Fall Colloquium, finance executive Poppy Allonby lays out the current state of sustainability thinking among the investor class.
Preparing global online learners for the clean energy transition
MIT Energy Initiative edX course asks students to rethink how we operate power systems.
MIT Energy Initiative launches the Future Energy Systems Center
New MITEI consortium focuses on speeding the energy transition, engaging with industrial leaders to deploy clean energy advances at scale.
Pricing carbon, valuing people
New research suggests ways to optimize US climate policy design for a just energy transition.
Seeing the plasma edge of fusion experiments in new ways with artificial intelligence
MIT researchers are testing a simplified turbulence theory’s ability to model complex plasma phenomena using a novel machine-learning technique.
A tool to speed development of new solar cells
A new computational simulator can help predict whether changes to materials or design will improve performance in new photovoltaic cells.
“Vigilant inclusion” central to combating climate change
Tenth annual US C3E Women in Clean Energy Symposium focuses on equity and justice in the clean-energy transition.
An energy-storage solution that flows like soft-serve ice cream
Researchers make the case for a semisolid electrochemical compound as a cost-efficient, grid-scale battery backup for wind and solar power.
At UN climate change conference, trying to “keep 1.5 alive”
A delegation from MIT traveled to Glasgow for COP26, where international negotiators sought to keep global climate goals on track.
Radio-frequency wave scattering improves fusion simulations
By incorporating the scattering of RF waves into fusion simulations, MIT physicists improve heating and current drive predictions for fusion plasmas.
MIT Energy Initiative awards seven Seed Fund grants for early-stage energy research
Awards support research to improve the efficiency, scalability, and adoption of clean energy technologies.