Assessing the value of battery energy storage in future power grids
Storage value increases as variable renewable energy supplies an increasing share of electricity, but storage cost declines are needed to realize full potential.
3 Questions: Lourdes Melgar on Mexico’s energy reform
MIT alumna, Robert Wilhelm Fellow, and former Mexican government official discusses opportunities and challenges of recent reforms.
Will we ever stop using fossil fuels?
Not without a carbon tax, suggests a study by an MIT economist.
A spot market for water
Sourcewater pioneers an exchange for trading and recycling water for oil and gas production and other operations.
Toward cheaper water treatment
MIT spinout makes treating, recycling highly contaminated oilfield water more economical
Thin coating on condensers could make power plants more efficient
Graphene layer one atom thick could quadruple rate of condensation heat transfer in generating plants.
3 Questions: Are we entering a golden age of natural gas trade?
MIT research scientist Sergey Paltsev studies just how big the market for liquefied natural gas could get.
A new way to detect leaks in pipes
Self-propelled robotic device can speed through pipes, pinpointing leaks more accurately than existing methods.
Grid reliability and the role of natural gas
MIT Energy Initiative analysis suggests approaches to make the electricity system more resilient by improving its interdependency with natural gas.
How to count methane emissions
Study provides new metric for comparing the greenhouse gases methane and carbon dioxide.
3 Questions: Francis O’Sullivan on the climate impact of ‘leaky methane’
Researchers find that national estimates of methane emissions have been underestimated over the past 20 years.
Evaluating the risks of natural gas
MIT researchers weigh natural gas development options and economic risks for small nations using Cyprus as a case study.
MIT’s Ernest J. Moniz nominated Secretary of Energy
President Obama’s pick is head of the MIT Energy Initiative and a former undersecretary of energy.
Purification on the cheap
System developed at MIT cleans ‘produced water’ from natural gas wells, could lead to improved desalination plants for developing countries.