Environment

Members of the winning team, ecoTrio, from this year’s MADMEC competition. From left to right are Margaret Lee, Sara Sheffels, and Ty Christoff-Tempesta.

MADMEC teams address plastic waste problem with materials science

Finalists presented an alternative to nondegradable plastics, and an additive to help plastics decompose.

October 17, 2019

Renewlogy co-founder and CEO Priyanka Bakaya inside one of the company's commercial plants, which are capable of processing ten tons of plastic each day to create about 60 barrels of fuel.

MIT alumna addresses the world’s mounting plastic waste problem

Renewlogy’s system is converting plastic waste from cities and rivers into fuel.

October 9, 2019

Solve Challenge Finals took place in New York City

MIT Solve selects 2019 cohort of tech entrepreneurs

At Solve Challenge Finals in New York, judges selected 32 innovators, and Solve announces $1.5 million in prize funding.

October 1, 2019

Graduate student Sidhant Pai repairs low-cost air quality sensors near Connaught Place in Central Delhi.

Tracing the origins of air pollutants in India

MIT researchers employ low-cost sensors to detect and track the origins of air pollutants in India.

September 30, 2019

Greener and fairer: Balancing pollution, energy prices, and household income

New research looks at how environmental taxes can work for everyone, in Spain and beyond.

September 25, 2019

The Malden Works team gathered in the Malden, Massachusetts, Department of Public Works garage during a recent site tour: (left to right) Marcia Manong, Karen Buck, Evan Spetrini, Gary Christenson, Amber Christoffersen, Kathleen Vandiver, and Marie Law Adams.

Malden Works for Waterfront Equity and Resilience awarded Norman B. Leventhal City Prize

Prize supports powerful collaboration among diverse constituencies in Malden, Massachusetts.

September 24, 2019

Left: A water sample undergoing testing using the J-WAFS-funded water quality test kit soon to be deployed throughout Nepal. Right: Citrus trees infected with citrus greening disease are highly contagious and can wipe out whole orange groves. A J-WAFS-funded sensor could help farmers detect the disease much earlier.

J-WAFS announces 2019 Solutions Grants supporting agriculture and clean water

Projects address access to clean water in Nepal via wearable E. coli test kits, improving the resilience of commercial citrus groves, and more.

September 17, 2019

"Whether they select advanced reactors or fusion reactors, utilities, policy, or advocacy, our students could move the industry beyond the 1960s,” says MIT Professor Michael Short. “They could give new meaning and substance to the department’s motto, ‘science, systems and society.’”

Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering spreads its wings

New 22-ENG undergraduate degree provides expansive vision of nuclear studies and nuclear careers.

September 13, 2019

Professor John Sterman displays maps showing the consequences of sea-level rise on various coastal cities, as part of the “SimPlanet” event at MIT.

Reaching climate solutions through negotiation

At “SimPlanet” event, students test-drive new computer simulation to reveal outcomes of different policy decisions.

September 6, 2019

A wind turbine on the coast of Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio

Shift to renewable electricity a win-win at statewide level

MIT research finds health savings from cleaner air exceed policy costs.

August 14, 2019

At MIT, as globally connected citizens with many opportunities for work- and research-related air travel, many community members contribute more to climate change than the average American.

Air travel in academia

Media Lab designs a pilot carbon-offsets program.

August 7, 2019

Health effects of China’s climate policy extend across Pacific

Improved air quality in China could prevent nearly 2,000 premature deaths in the U.S.

July 29, 2019

Kanton atoll, the only inhabited island of the Phoenix Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati.

Tuna are spawning in marine protected areas

Despite being highly migratory, tuna may benefit from ocean sanctuaries, study finds.

July 24, 2019

Coal-fired electric plant, Henan Province, China

Pathways to a low-carbon China

Study projects a key role for carbon capture and storage.

July 8, 2019

When carbon emissions pass a critical threshold, it can trigger a spike-like reflex in the carbon cycle, in the form of severe ocean acidification that lasts for 10,000 years, according to a new MIT study.

Breaching a “carbon threshold” could lead to mass extinction

Carbon dioxide emissions may trigger a reflex in the carbon cycle, with devastating consequences, study finds.