Niina Heikkinen reports for Scientific American that MIT researchers have identified a new way to make yeast more ethanol-tolerant. The researchers were able to improve “alcohol tolerance and extend the amount of time that individual cells could produce ethanol.”
William Becker writes for The Huffington Post about a study from the MIT Energy Initiative and the Harvard University Center on the Environment that examined American public opinion on energy sources. "Americans don't really divide along partisan lines when it comes to their energy preference,” the researchers reported.
“A team of MIT researchers has built an all-liquid battery prototype that's designed to store excess energy from solar and wind power plants,” writes Francie Diep for Popular Science. “[F]uture versions of this battery could release energy captured during more productive times into nations' power grids.”
Mark Peplow writes for Nature about a new molten-metal battery designed by Professor Donald Sadoway’s team: “A battery made of molten metals could help to make sources of renewable energy more viable by storing the excess electricity generated by these intermittent sources.”
Professor Donald Sadoway’s team has designed a battery that makes use of molten metals, which could allow for large-scale power storage, reports Jonathan Webb for the BBC. “Previous battery designs have largely been too expensive to help store energy on the scale of a national power grid,” writes Webb.
Melissa Lott of Scientific American reports on the third annual Clean Energy Education & Empowerment (C3E) women’s initiative symposium co-hosted by the MIT Energy Initiative. The group works in partnership with governments around the world to increase the participation of women in the energy field.
Stephen Ansolabehere and David Konisky write for The Boston Globe about a survey on public opinion on energy in the U.S. conducted by the MIT Energy Initiative and the Harvard University Center on Environment. The survey found that Americans have better knowledge of the policy debate than might be expected.
MIT scientists have shown recycled lead can be used in solar cells, reports Popular Science’s Emily Gertz. “The group's work demonstrates that the perovskite created from the lead in just one old car battery could provide materials for 30 households-worth of solar energy cells,” writes Gertz.
Martin LaMonica writes for IEEE Spectrum about how MIT researchers have developed a system that uses car batteries to produce solar cells. “The beauty is that this new process is pretty interchangeable with the current production method,” says Prof. Angela Belcher.
In an article for The Wall Street Journal, Professor John Deutch writes about the success of President Obama’s energy policy. “President Obama is having greater success in advancing his energy agenda in his second term than in his first. But it will take more than one successful term to secure the country's energy future,” Deutch writes.
Washington Post reporter Rachel Feltman writes that MIT engineers have developed a system that recycles batteries into solar cells. “We think it could be a competitor that’s easy to process, has rapidly increasing efficiency, and can be made in an environmentally friendly way,” says Prof. Angela Belcher.
Cynthia Graber of Scientific American reports on the new MIT technique to use solar energy to generate steam. Graber reports that the new system reaches, “85 percent efficiency in converting the solar energy into steam."
Jane Porter writes for Fortune about WiTricity, an MIT spinout focused on the development of wireless power-transfer technology. By using vibrational frequencies, electricity can be transferred over distances of up to four feet.
“A new technology creates steam by harnessing solar energy, using a relatively cheap sponge-like material, and it does it with greater efficiency that ever previously achieved,” writes Douglas Main in a piece for Popular Science about a new solar sponge created by MIT scientists.
Kristine Wong reports for Takepart, a division of Participant Media, that "MIT scientists have invented a simple but ingenious device" to generate steam. Gang Chen, who heads MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering, explains what makes it work: "First, it’s black in color, so it absorbs the light very effectively. Secondly, it’s porous to allow water to come in. Third, it’s insulating, so it absorbs sunlight and turns it into heat."