Pollution

Clean power planning

A new study details why it’s prudent to invest in carbon-free electricity now.

April 20, 2017

A new surface coating developed by Kripa Varanasi and his team causes water to bead up on the inner surface of a pipe rather than spreading out. This prevents the formation of ices that could lead to a clog in an oil pipeline or well.

Researchers design coatings to prevent pipeline clogging

Solution developed at MIT could stop buildup of hydrate ices that slow or block oil and gas flow.

April 14, 2017

“MIT has given me more opportunities than I could have imagined as a prefrosh,” Senior Elizabeth Rider says. “I've traveled to new places and met new people that I wouldn't otherwise have had the opportunity to.”

Environmentalist and explorer

Senior Elizabeth Rider uses atmospheric chemistry research to create international connections.

April 11, 2017

Ellen Swallow Richards (back row, far left) stands in 1888 with students from the MIT Women’s Laboratory, which she founded in the previous year.

Scene at MIT: Ellen Swallow Richards leads the Woman's Laboratory

A trailblazing industrial and environmental chemist, Ellen Swallow Richards was MIT’s first female graduate and first female instructor.

March 21, 2017

A production line in a Volkswagen factory in Poland. Scientists at MIT and elsewhere report that the manufacturer’s emissions in excess of the test-stand limit value have had a significant effect on public health not just in Germany but across Europe.

Study: Volkswagen’s excess emissions will lead to 1,200 premature deaths in Europe

Countries hit hardest by automaker’s emissions scandal include Germany, Poland, France, and Czech Republic.

March 3, 2017

Richard Ha (second from right), farmer and Hawaii native, shows MIT TREX participants how he generates his own electricity using water.

Getting their hands dirty: Students experience fieldwork in Hawaii

TREX program from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering offers undergraduates the opportunity to get out in the field.

February 17, 2017

Ozone exacts a particularly heavy toll on people living in economically disadvantaged areas, where industrial and power plants tend to cluster. While policies have been implemented to reduce ozone emissions across the country, they have not yet addressed built-in inequities in the U.S. economy, leaving low-income Americans at greatest risk for health and economic damages.

Modeling the unequal benefits of U.S. environmental policy

New toolset evaluates economic impacts of ozone reduction policies for nine income groups.

February 15, 2017

“The ultimate objective,” atmospheric scientist Jesse Kroll says, “is to understand what policies could help, and what changes policymakers could make to minimize the negative health and climate effects of particulate pollution.”

Zeroing in on the chemistry of the air

Jesse Kroll examines how pollutants change chemically as they waft around the globe.

February 1, 2017

Projecting food, water, energy, climate and other global changes

Marking 25 years of science and policy studies, the MIT Joint Program launches new website showcasing its expanded research portfolio.

January 27, 2017

Kevin Kung, a Tata Fellow and PhD candidate in biological engineering, feeds rice husks into the torrefaction reactor in his lab at MIT. A thermochemical process will convert the biomass to a more energy-dense form, making it easier to transport and use as fuel.

Tapping the hidden value of farm waste

MIT researchers are developing mobile torrefaction technology that can convert biomass into clean-burning fuel, unlocking potential income for farmers.

January 25, 2017

MIT grad student Maher Damak (left) and professor of chemistry Moungi Bawendi

Two from MIT honored at World Technology Awards

PhD candidate Maher Damak and Professor Moungi Bawendi recognized for advances in engineering and chemistry.

January 20, 2017

Mapping out a low-carbon future

Energy scenarios provide useful decision-support tools for policymakers and investors.

January 19, 2017

An MIT-led study finds that technological advances alone will not bring about dematerialization, or the reduction of the amount of materials needed to produce goods and services.

Study: Technological progress alone won’t stem resource use

Researchers find no evidence of an overall reduction in the world’s consumption of materials.

January 19, 2017

Timothy Hyde, architectural historian and associate professor in the History, Theory, and Criticism (HTC) section of the MIT Department of Architecture.

House rules

Research shows how rebuilding Britain’s Houses of Parliament in the 1800s helped create clean-air laws.

January 12, 2017

Researchers report that warming from short-lived compounds — greenhouse gases such as methane and chlorofluorocarbons, that linger in the atmosphere for just a year to a few decades — can cause sea levels to rise for hundreds of years after the pollutants have been cleared from the atmosphere.

Short-lived greenhouse gases cause centuries of sea-level rise

Through warming effects, methane and other gases impact rising seas long after leaving the atmosphere.

January 9, 2017

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