Energy

“In courses like Nuclear Technology and Society, which covered the benefits and risks of nuclear energy, I saw that some people believed the solution for climate change was definitely nuclear, while others said it was wind or solar,” says doctoral student Nestor Sepulveda. “I began wondering how to determine the value of different technologies.”

Zeroing in on decarbonization

Wielding complex algorithms, nuclear science and engineering doctoral candidate Nestor Sepulveda spins out scenarios for combating climate change.

January 15, 2020

The AES Corporation, based in Virginia, installed the world’s largest solar-plus-storage system on the southern end of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. A scaled-down version was first tested at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Pathways to a low-carbon future

A new study looks at how the global energy mix could change over the next 20 years.

January 9, 2020

A smart window developed by Professor Nicholas Fang includes thermochromic material that turns frosty when exposed to temperatures of 32 C or higher, such as when a researcher touches the window with her hand.

Preventing energy loss in windows

Mechanical engineers are developing technologies that could prevent heat from entering or escaping windows, potentially preventing a massive loss of energy.

January 6, 2020

Assistant Professor Valerie Karplus and her collaborators have demonstrated that measurements of air pollutants taken by NASA satellites are often a good indicator of emissions on the ground. Their approach provides regulators with a low-cost tool to ensure that industrial firms are complying with emissions standards.

Tracking emissions in China

Evaluating a 2014 policy change yields some good news and some concerns.

December 30, 2019

A small-scale device, seen here, was used in the lab to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new shockwave-based system for removing radioactive contaminants from the cooling water in nuclear powerplants.

A new way to remove contaminants from nuclear wastewater

Method concentrates radionuclides in a small portion of a nuclear plant’s wastewater, allowing the rest to be recycled.

December 19, 2019

Postdoc Reshma Rao stands next to a pulsed laser deposition system, which is used to deposit well-defined thin films of catalyst materials.

The race to develop renewable energy technologies

Mechanical engineers rush to develop energy conversion and storage technologies from renewable sources such as wind, wave, solar, and thermal.

December 18, 2019

Anoushka Bose is moving purposefully toward a public-service career in nuclear policy and diplomacy.

Anoushka Bose: Targeting a career in security studies and diplomacy

Nuclear science and engineering and physics met political science to illuminate a new path.

December 17, 2019

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and it currently leaks from production wells, storage tanks, pipelines, and urban distribution pipes for natural gas.

The uncertain role of natural gas in the transition to clean energy

MIT study finds that challenges in measuring and mitigating leakage of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, prove pivotal.

December 16, 2019

Students gather in the Stata Center to hear the 2019 MIT EnergyHack challenges. Participants had 36 hours to come up with a solution to the challenge they were assigned with their team members before presenting to company representatives, fellow hackers, and judges.

Hacking into a sustainable energy future

The 2019 MIT EnergyHack presented opportunities for students and companies to collaborate and solve problems facing the energy sector today.

December 11, 2019

A 70-unit British Columbia lakeside resort hotel was built with local engineered wood products, including cross-laminated timber. New research explores the potential environmental and economic impact in the United States of substituting lumber for energy-intensive building products such as cement and steel.

Taking the carbon out of construction with engineered wood

Substituting lumber for materials such as cement and steel could cut building emissions and costs.

December 11, 2019

An MIT-invented circuit uses only a nanometer-wide “magnetic domain wall” to modulate the phase and magnitude of a spin wave, which could enable practical magnetic-based computing — using little to no electricity.

Toward more efficient computing, with magnetic waves

Circuit design offers a path to “spintronic” devices that use little electricity and generate practically no heat.

November 28, 2019

MITEI’s "Insights into Future Mobility" report highlights the importance of near-term action to ensure the long-term sustainability of personal mobility.

MIT Energy Initiative report charts pathways for sustainable personal transportation

Technological innovations, policies, and behavioral changes will all be needed to reach Paris climate agreement targets.

November 19, 2019

A new shoebox-sized laser produces terahertz waves (green squiggles) by using a special infrared laser (red) to rotate molecules of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, packed in a pen-sized cavity (grey).

Researchers generate terahertz laser with laughing gas

Device may enable “T-ray vision” and better wireless communication.

November 14, 2019

Kate Brown is a professor in MIT's Program in Science, Technology, and Society.

Historian of the hinterlands

In overlooked spots on the map, MIT Professor Kate Brown examines the turbulence of the modern world.

November 12, 2019

“We’d like to have an impact with the course on the greater debate about the use of nuclear energy as part of the solution for climate change,” says Professor Jacopo Buongiorno.

Enhanced nuclear energy online class aims to inform and inspire

Revamped version of MITx MOOC includes new modules on nuclear security, nuclear proliferation, and quantum engineering.

October 24, 2019

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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