Energy

View of the Longhouse Northwest Elevation

Mass timber: Thinking big about sustainable construction

MIT class designs a prototype building to demonstrate that even huge buildings can be built primarily with wood.

August 6, 2018

MISTI and graduating MIT Sloan Master of Finance student, Lukas Kamphausen working in the Middle East

Navigating cultures while making a difference

Lukas Kamphausen MFin '18 is helping to bring sustainable electricity to low-income families in Gaza with easy-to-install solar kits.

August 2, 2018

Meeting Turkey’s Paris Agreement emissions commitment will require a dramatic shift to low-carbon energy sources, such as this solar farm in Kastamonu, Turkey.

The price of the pledge

MIT researchers examine Turkey to assess the impact of 2015 Paris climate commitments on a national economy.

July 30, 2018

Julie Newman, Ph.D., Director of the MIT Office of Sustainability.

3Q: Julie Newman on MIT’s pioneering solar purchase

MIT’s sustainability director describes how 2016 effort has inspired Boston and other cities.

July 16, 2018

Professor Kristala Jones Prather leads a discussion at MITEI about the future of biofuels — and whether the prime window of time for their deployment has already passed or has not yet come. Prather argued for the latter. “I think it’s too early,” she told the undergraduates. “We just haven’t spent enough time on the problem yet.”

Kristala Prather: Advancing energy-efficient biochemistry

Associate professor of chemical engineering talks about the future of biochemistry and the next generation of scientists and engineers.

July 16, 2018

An MIT team performing fundamental studies of systems for cooling and dehumidifying indoor spaces includes (l-r): Professor Leslie Norford, graduate students Tianyi Chen and Omar Labban, and Professor John Lienhard. Chen and Labban began the work when they teamed up for an assignment in an advanced energy conversion class taught by Professor Ahmed Ghoniem (not pictured).

Cooling buildings worldwide

Analysis points the way to energy-efficient systems that take a location-specific approach to cooling and dehumidifying places where people live and work.

July 11, 2018

At left, different patterns of slices through a thin metal foil, are made by a focused ion beam. These patterns cause the metal to fold up into predetermined shapes, which can be used for such purposes as modifying a beam of light.

Kirigami-inspired technique manipulates light at the nanoscale

Folding and cutting thin metal films could enable microchip-based 3-D optical devices.

July 6, 2018

An MIT study estimates the impact of a trade war between the U.S. and the rest of world when the U.S. alone does not comply with the Paris Agreement. The aim of such a trade war would be to compel the U.S. to meet its Paris pledge.

What is the likely outcome of a trade war between the U.S. and the rest of the world?

Study highlights economic losses for participating countries.

June 26, 2018

Bruno Verdini discusses strategies for natural resources negotiation with MIT Energy Initiative Communications Director Emily Dahl at a MITEI seminar.

3Q: Winning together in negotiation

Bruno Verdini, executive director of the MIT-Harvard Mexico Negotiation Program, discusses his award-winning research on negotiating for mutual gains.

June 21, 2018

Bruno Verdini explored the keys to successful high-stakes negotiations by interviewing dozens of people who worked together to settle long-running disputes between the United States and Mexico over shared natural resources in the Colorado River and the Gulf of Mexico.

Natural resource negotiations for mutual gains

Through research on U.S. - Mexico hydrocarbon drilling rights negotiation, Bruno Verdini provides insights on how to resolve conflicts through proactive collaboration.

June 21, 2018