Energy

Fast Company’s Adele Peters spotlights “Project Obsidian,” a new geothermal power plant developed by MIT spinout Quaise Energy. The findings of former Senior Research Engineer Paul Woskov helped Quaise develop their tech. “Paul’s epiphany was realizing that if we can use the same energy to heat plasmas to millions of degrees Celsius to get fusion, why not use that for heating and drilling through rock at a much more modest temperature?” says Matthew Houde, Quaise co-founder.  

For Scientific American’s special section “The Young American Scientists” Bob Mumgaard PhD ‘15, co-founder and CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, speaks with Tara Haelle about the commercialization of fusion science and how automated tools have accelerated research. “Whether in areas such as fusion—or in drugs by design for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s or in [the creation of] materials we never thought possible—our ability to use new tools to tackle some of these big, meaty problems is super exciting,” says Mumgaard. 

Time reporter Simmone Shah highlights a study co-authored by Prof. Christopher Knittel and Prof. Catherine Wolfram that reveals extreme weather caused by climate change is costing Americans an average of $400 and $900 a year. “Even if you don't live in tornado alley, you might be seeing your insurance rates go up to cover the cost for people who are in the more danger-prone areas,” says Wolfram.

Honorees on The Boston Globe’s 2026 Tech Power Players list shared their reasons for having optimism about the future of the Greater Boston area’s tech and innovation scene. President Sally Kornbluth says opportunities abound in what she calls “AI + X” — integrating AI into fields such as manufacturing, life sciences, and energy. “Massachusetts can absolutely lead in this next wave,” says Kornbluth. 

Boston Globe reporter Robert Weisman spotlights how MIT is “working to drive artificial intelligence forward in sectors where the region is strongest, from biotechnology and robotics to defense and clean energy. It’s also trying to broaden entrepreneurship through a ‘dorm-to-startup’ push, creating a pipeline of support services — from hack-a-thons to venture funding — to help students to start companies between classes.” 

In a series of papers published in the Journal of Plasma Physics, researchers from MIT, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) and other universities were able to validate the science and feasibility behind CFS’ plans to build a 400-megawatt fusion power plant, reports Timothy Gardner for Reuters. 

NPR reporter Jeff Brady spotlights a study by Prof. Jessika Trancik and Marco Miotti PhD ’20  that found “across most of the U.S., electric vehicles are cost-competitive with their gas counterparts. And it found that in most locations, EVs also reduce emissions between 40% and 60%.” 

To help establish Massachusetts and the nation as a quantum leader, President Sally Kornbluth and Governor Maura Healey announced plans for a new share-used quantum research facility at MIT, writes Axios reporter Steph Solis. The Quantum Systems Laboratory would “host teams focused on using quantum mechanics for life sciences and defense research, but what would set the MIT project apart from existing labs is its ability to power direct communication among multiple quantum computers,” Solis explains. 

Thanks in part to a $25 investment from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, MIT plans to open the Quantum Systems Laboratory, which will “provide quantum experts from across Massachusetts access to quantum hardware and specialized equipment,” reports Lucia Maffei for the Boston Business Journal. "This is good news for MIT, good news for Massachusetts and, frankly, good news for the world," said Governor Maura Healey. "This is really setting the stage to have cutting-edge quantum computers be able to operate in that building," said President Sally Kornbluth. "There will be many people throughout Massachusetts who come to use this facility. It's really a hub to make Massachusetts a quantum center.” 

State House News Service reporter Katie Castellani writes that President Sally Kornbluth and Governor Maura Healey announced a new shared-use quantum facility at MIT, the Quantum Systems Laboratory (QSL), aimed at providing scientists the opportunity to apply quantum research across various sectors, including defense and the life sciences. The QSL will “bring quantum computers together with quantum sensors and peripherals through physical channels that transfer information,” Castellani explains. 

MIT engineers have developed a new low-temperature process for extracting battery-grade lithium from hard rock, while also reducing waste, reports Gayoung Lee for Gizmodo. “Mining is essential to technology and therefore to society, yet it is perceived negatively by much of the public as a destructive, polluting industry, in some cases with good reason,” explains Prof. Yet-Ming Chiang. “We hope to help change that perception by showing that there are cleaner, more sustainable ways to do it.”

Writing for The Boston Globe, President Sally Kornbluth emphasizes the importance of investment in discovery science, what she calls “curiosity on a mission." Kornbluth notes: “When someone we love needs therapies that could have emerged but didn’t or when other countries now investing in science can launch new science-based industries or run their societies on vast resources of fusion energy or reap the benefits of quantum computing power or advanced medical breakthroughs, America will wish it sustained its leadership in scientific research here and now.”

Prof. Simon Johnson joins Michel Martin of NPR’s Morning Edition to discuss the International Monetary Fund’s latest forecast showing the impact of the war in Iran on economic growth and inflation. Johnson notes that the war “is a big shock to energy prices. Energy prices are an important element of economies around the world...So I'm afraid a lot of countries are suffering a deceleration of growth or even some negative growth.”

Prof. Sinan Aral joins CNBC’s “Squawk Box” to discuss the state of AI data center construction across the U.S. and the impact of new AI technologies on the power grid. “Data center and compute demand is so large and growing,” says Aral. He adds that hybrid models that “combine the benefit of connecting to the [power] grid with the benefit of an energy island model, where you have onsite storage of energy, you have battery and you have onsite generation to offload during peak times. The hybrid model is really good because it gets the best of both worlds.” 

Writing for The Boston Globe, Prof. Christopher Knittel and graduate student Fischer Espiritu Argosino make the case that in Massachusetts the “current compensation structure for the electricity produced by solar panels turns a climate solution into an inequitable cost shift that burdens many residents.” They add: “The state needs to prioritize large-scale wind and solar deployment and fix how residential solar exporters are compensated…. Massachusetts has long been a clean-energy leader. It can remain one by showing that decarbonization and affordability can go hand in hand.”