Prof. Donald Sadoway speaks with Forbes contributor Arne Alsin about the future of sustainable energy and battery design. “We definitely have to be bolder in our innovation when it comes to what goes beyond lithium-ion,” says Sadoway. “We have to apply the criterion ‘If successful, how big is the impact?’ And we have to have the courage to fail.”
In an article for NBC News about solar power, Corey Powell highlights Prof. Jeffrey Grossman’s work developing a material for a new chemical heat battery that could release energy on demand. “We’re creating materials that store thermal energy in completely new ways,” Grossman explains.
HuffPost reporter Thomas Tamblyn writes that MIT researchers have developed a new “air-breathing” battery that can store electricity for months. The new battery could harvest, “the vast wind energy waiting to be captured in the North Atlantic, store it for months on end and then release it into the grid for a fraction of the cost that we’re currently paying.”
UPI reporter Brooks Hays writes about MIT spinout Open Water Power, which developed a battery that can be powered by seawater. Hays writes that the, “technology promises to extend the range and capabilities of unpiloted underwater vehicles, or UUVs.”
Writing for NOVA Next, Annette Choi talks with MITEI Director Robert Armstrong and research scientist Apurba Sakti about the value of developing energy storage solutions to maximize the potential of renewable energy technologies and make the electric grid more reliable, flexible, and adaptable.
Bruce Gellerman of WBUR spotlights Ambri, an MIT startup co-founded by Prof. Donald Sadoway and alumnus David Bradwell that creates liquid metal batteries. Ambri’s “molten metal technology is at the cutting edge of the emerging energy storage industry,” writes Gellerman.
During a trip to Rome to renew MIT’s partnership with Eni aimed at accelerating clean energy technologies, President L. Rafael Reif spoke with Alessia Rastelli of Corriere della Sera about MIT’s Climate Action Plan, the Campaign for a Better World and bringing world-changing ideas to the marketplace. Reif explains that MIT researchers want to “have an impact on a global scale.”
GE is joining MITEI as a sustaining member and will participate in several Low-Carbon Energy Centers, reports Curt Woodward for The Boston Globe. “It’s not enough for a university to develop a technology,” says Robert Armstrong, director of MITEI. “It’s critical to have a partner like GE who can help you get it to people.”
BBC News reporter David Gibson writes that MIT researchers have developed a thin, transparent film that can store solar energy for later use. Gibson writes that the polymer could be used to de-ice windshields, “heat seats and steering wheels, or even let you solar charge your socks before a motorcycle ride.”
Boston.com reporter Eric Levenson writes that MIT researchers have developed a polymer material capable of storing solar energy and releasing it later as heat. The “polymer being developed would store the sun’s rays in a chemical reaction that is then converted into heat,” explains Levenson.