By combining two kinds of photovoltaic material, MIT researchers have developed a more effective solar cell, reports Umair Irfan for Scientific American. Irfan explains that combining the two materials, “generates a higher voltage than either of the layers could do by themselves.”
Martin LaMonica writes for The Boston Globe about how MIT researchers are creating a commercial prototype of a carbon capture device. Graduate student Aly Eltayeb explains that carbon capture could be useful in cutting carbon emissions, “especially if you can do something with that CO2 and stop treating it as a waste — and treat it as a valuable product.”
New research by Professor Daniel Rothman and postdoctoral associate Yossi Cohen has raised questions about the feasibility of carbon capture, reports Ken Silverstein for Forbes. The researchers found that “only a ‘small fraction’ of the carbon dioxide solidifies and turns into rock after it is injected 7,000 feet below the earth’s surface,” explains Silverstein.
MIT researchers have found that carbon sequestration may not be as effective at storing greenhouse gas emissions as originally thought, reports Christopher Martin for Bloomberg News. The researchers found that “much of the carbon dioxide will remain in its gaseous state, and may eventually escape into the atmosphere.”
Professors Joel Schindall and John Kassakian are developing technology designed to replace the traditional battery with a new device that relies on ultracapacitors, reports Erik Sherman for CBS News. Ultracapacitors “can store large amounts of electricity and release them in single bursts,” Sherman explains.
Jon Chesto writes for The Boston Globe about a new battery technology from Professor Don Sadoway’s company, Ambri, that allows for more efficient grid-level power storage: “The goal is to allow electric utilities or big industrial plants to store power so it can be released at times of high usage.”
According to The Economist, a battery design “being developed by Donald Sadoway of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology would use two sorts of liquid metal, separated by a liquid electrolyte.” Using metals of varying densities, Sadoway’s design would allow the substances to float as separate layers in a container.
Professor Jeremy England appears on WGBH television’s Greater Boston to discuss his work examining the origins of life. England explains his theory that, from the perspective of physics, energy played a role in the formation of life.
Curt Nickisch of WBUR reports that MIT, Harvard, MGH and The Boston Globe are joining forces for HUBweek, a weeklong festival focused on innovation to be held in the fall of 2015. “MIT plans to host a huge gathering called SOLVE to tackle with some of the world’s most perplexing problems,” reports Nickisch.
Matt Murphy writes for WBUR about Solve, an event MIT will host next fall as part of the HUBweek innovation festival. The event will focus on “research and problem-solving exercises” aimed at four areas: education, health care, manufacturing, and environmental sustainability and energy.
Yiqing Shao of Boston Magazine reports on HUBweek, a new innovation festival that will be co-hosted by MIT, The Boston Globe, Harvard and MGH. “By uniting so many of the region’s leading institutions, HUBweek itself embodies the open, collaborative spirit that has helped make Greater Boston and Cambridge a hotbed of innovation and new ideas,” said MIT President L. Rafael Reif.
Boston Globe reporter Michael Levenson writes about HUBweek, an “innovation-themed festival” that aims to showcase Boston. As part of HUBweek, MIT will host “‘Solve’ to brainstorm solutions to problems in education, energy, the environment, manufacturing, and infrastructure.”
“If the festival helps experts in Greater Boston make new connections across disciplines and across institutions — and find common interests and opportunities for collaboration with people around the world — the region as a whole can only benefit,” writes The Boston Globe Editorial Board of HUBweek, which will be co-hosted by MIT.
A new technique developed by MIT researchers for capturing waste heat that can be used to produce electricity has been named one of 10 World Changing ideas by Scientific American, reports Ryan Bradley. “This is something attractive,” says Dr. Yuan Yang, a postdoctoral associate at MIT, “because low-grade heat is everywhere.”
In a piece for Forbes about geothermal power production, Peter Kelly-Detwiler features a report released by a group of MIT researchers in 2005 concerning the potential of geothermal to become a major source of energy in the U.S.