Environment

A silicon solar cell with silicon-germanium filter using a step-cell design (large) and a gallium arsenide phosphide layer on silicon step-cell proof-of-concept solar cell (small).

New solar cell is more efficient, costs less than its counterparts

Exposed in step-like formation, layers of new photovoltaic cell harvest more of sun’s energy.

August 29, 2016

Collectively, piston-engine aircraft like this Cirrus SR22 constitute the nation’s largest remaining source of lead emissions.

Unfriendly skies: Piston engine aircraft pose a significant health threat

Study shows long-lasting health, economic impacts of lead emissions from U.S. general aviation flights.

August 26, 2016

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Philip Gschwend presents to members of the Cardinal and Gray Society and the Emma Rogers Society on “Environmental Pollution: Do Our Remedial Solutions Solve the Problems?”

Lifelong learning a hallmark of MIT pursuits

Professor Philip Gschwend discusses the importance of comprehensive systems approaches to curing environmental ills.

August 22, 2016

An aerial view shows flooded rice fields after Typhoon Haiyan hit Iloilo Province in central Philippines.

Assessing crop damage after extreme weather

New method to track the impact of typhoons and other natural disasters could enable more precise, timely delivery of food aid.

August 10, 2016

In an invited report and presentation at the White House ahead of the Paris climate negotiations, Jessika Trancik of the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society described an analysis that she and her colleagues at MIT and Tsinghua University performed, including results that demonstrate a mutually reinforcing cycle between emissions-reduction policies and technology development.

Reducing emissions, improving technology: A mutually reinforcing cycle

An MIT study on the connection between technology development and emissions-reduction policies informs Paris climate negotiations.

August 8, 2016

John Fernández is a professor of building technology in the MIT Department of Architecture and director of the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative.

John Fernández: Growing grassroots for sustainability on campus and abroad

Environmental Solutions Initiative’s new director discusses sustainable development, student engagement, and making Baker House his home.

August 2, 2016

Zhang Gaoli (seated, right), vice premier of China, whose portfolio includes environmental issues, speaks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the outset of a meeting about climate change and other topics at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on Nov. 11, 2014.

Meeting climate goals through international carbon markets

Linking emissions trading systems in developed and developing countries could yield environmental, economic benefits.

July 29, 2016

Roughness- and deflection-induced excess carbon dioxide emissions on Virginia’s Interstate Highway network in 2013

Data-driven approach to pavement management lowers greenhouse gas emissions

July 26, 2016

“The Cultures of Markets: The Political Economy of Climate Governance,” by Janelle Knox-Hayes (pictured), published by Oxford University Press.

Market makers

Good emissions trading programs are unique, not one-size-fits-all, new book argues.

July 26, 2016

Left to right: Roland Pellenq of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), Katerina Ioannidou of the MIT Energy Initiative, and Franz-Josef Ulm of CEE have developed a detailed understanding of the nanoscale forces at work as cement hardens — a critical step toward developing stronger, longer-lasting, less carbon-intensive concrete for “greener” construction in the future.

Designing climate-friendly concrete, from the nanoscale up

New understanding of concrete’s properties could increase lifetime of the building material, decrease emissions.

July 21, 2016

A five-day MIT Professional Education course — Agriculture, Innovation, and the Environment — showcased new technologies and strategies for making the agriculture industry more productive.

Growing season

New professional education program on agriculture, innovation, and the environment attracts global agricultural leaders to MIT.

July 19, 2016

MIT nuclear science and engineering professors Jacopo Buongiorno (left) and Dennis Whyte will lead a multidisciplinary team working on a Future of Nuclear Energy Technologies study.

Buongiorno, Whyte win Sloan Foundation grant

$1M Sloan Foundation grant supports NSE-led Future of Nuclear Energy Technologies study

July 13, 2016

Clusters of four or more small satellites could look at a single location on Earth from multiple angles, and measure that location’s total reflectance with an error that is half that of single satellites in operation today, an MIT-led study suggests.

Better views with smaller satellites

Batches of shoebox-sized satellites could improve estimates of Earth’s reflected energy.

July 12, 2016

Jareth Holt, Susan Solomon, and Noelle Selin of the MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences have developed new insights into how energy-related emissions form fine airborne particles that damage human health.

Regulating particulate pollution: Novel analysis yields new insights

MIT researchers demonstrate a new approach to designing location-specific emissions-control measures.

July 11, 2016

Jamal Abdul Nasser Traffic Circle in Amman, Jordan

Improving pavement management in Jordan

Concrete Sustainability Hub researcher Omar Swei is working to help Jordanian planners optimize maintenance on state-owned highways.