Sustainability

Prof. Desirée Plata and her research team have designed “a kind of clay that mimics the behavior of underwater microorganisms to break down methane into water and carbon dioxide,” reports Ivy Scott for The Boston Globe. “The estimates are that you could save a half a degree of warming by 2100 if you cut human-made methane emissions in half, so that’s a pretty big deal,” says Plata. “It’s the only greenhouse gas that can do that. It’s just a question of whether or not we’ll start to see people doing that ... [regionally] and in Massachusetts.”

Writing for Fast Company, Moshe Tanach highlights how researchers from the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Supercomputing Center are developing new technologies to reduce AI energy costs, such as power-capping hardware and tools that can halt AI training. 

Researchers from MIT and other universities, businesses and government agencies are working to help the state of Massachusetts become a leading producer of climate technology innovations, reports Jeff Young for Newsweek. “Some MIT grads launched a climate tech incubator in Cambridge called Greentown Labs in 2011 and it now hosts hundreds of startups,” explains Young. “The area's venture capital and finance communities are attuned to the climate sector and are investing in companies tackling some of the biggest climate challenges.”

Researchers from MIT have developed “sustainable, offshore, hydrodynamic,” artificial reef structures capable of dissipating “more than 95% of an incoming wave’s total energy,” reports Nick Warburton for Materials World. The design “comprises vertical cylinders with four rudder-like slats attached to them, so that water can flow through the structure to generate 'swirling masses of water' or large eddies,” explains Warburton. 

A new proposal aims to transform Massachusetts into “a new leader in climate and environment technology,” with the help with MIT and other Massachusetts-based universities, reports Julia Jacobo for ABC News. “The foundations for seeing environmental initiatives from their inception to public market have long existed in Massachusetts, home to some of the most prestigious research institutions and scientific discoveries in the world, as well as existing infrastructure that allows production to be achieved much faster, according to experts in the state.” 

MIT scientists are working to fortify coastlines with “architected” reefs that can also provide habitats for fish and marine life, reports Ed Brown for TechBriefs. “We looked at the structure of these reefs and we found some similarities to what we had been doing in fluid mechanics. That led us to the idea of trying to make artificial reefs that we could architect and build in a very directed way,” says Prof. Michael Triantafyllou.

MIT spinoff Electrified Thermal Solutions is developing electrically charged bricks that generate and store heat as part of an effort to one day replace fossil fuels, reports Phil McKenna for Inside Climate News. “If you are running an industrial plant where you’re making cement or steel or glass or ceramics or chemicals or even food or beverage products, you burn a lot of fossil fuels,” explains Daniel Stack SM '17, PhD '21, chief executive of Electrified Thermal Solutions. “Our mission is to decarbonize industry with electrified heat.”

An opinion piece by Katie Martin of the Financial Times explores how Prof. Emil Verner and colleagues have found that climate pledges made by banks and other financial institutions are not effective at reducing carbon emissions. “We find no evidence of reduced financed emissions through engagement,” the paper states. “We conclude that net zero commitments do not lead to meaningful changes in bank behavior.”

Prof. Asegun Henry founded Fourth Power, a startup using new technology to cut the cost of storing renewable energy, reports Adele Peters for Fast Company.  The technology is designed “to tap into excess renewable energy,” explains Peters. “That energy heats up liquid tin, which flows down carbon pipes to heat up the blocks. When the grid needs electricity again, the system generates it using special solar panels that run on the white-hot light from the pipes rather than sunshine. Because the system was designed for durability, the team expects it to last for three decades—far longer than lithium-ion batteries, which quickly degrade.”

An analysis by The Atlantic’s Ronald Brownstein notes despite Republican resistance to electric vehicles, many new production facilities are located in GOP-represented states. MIT Innovation Fellow Brian Deese explains EV companies are simply seeking space and nearby manufacturing and construction capacity, but said “it’s pretty hard to think of a technology where there was a cheaper, better technology to solve a consumer need and consumers prioritized a cultural or political patina over lower costs and higher quality.”

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have found that “showing AI-generated images of a less car-reliant American city boosted support for sustainable transportation policies,” reports Linda Poon for Bloomberg. “Let’s help them imagine what it would actually be like to live in a car-less neighborhood, and a car-less city,” says postdoctoral associate Rachit Dubey. 

Prof. Kripa Varanasi and Vishnu Jayaprakash SM '19, PhD '21 co-founded AgZen, an MIT spinoff that is developing new technologies to improve the performance and effectiveness of pesticide treatments, reports The Economist. The new technologies “could reduce the total amount of fungicides and insecticides sprayed over complete crops by some 90%, as well as cutting the amount of adjuvants required,” writes The Economist.

Prof. John Sterman speaks with New York Times reporter Susan Shain about the effectiveness of flight offsets. Sterman explains that few offset project results are verifiable, immediate and durable, part of his criteria for legitimacy. Better recommendations include insulating your home or buying an electric car.

Prof. Christopher Knittel speaks with The Hill reporters Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk about the implications of the latest climate rule put in place to mitigate power plant emissions. “What we’ve seen, even without these rules, is that coal generation is failing,” says Knittel. “These new rules will certainly push to speed that transition up.”

Robert Stoner, interim director of the MIT Energy Initiative, speaks with Boston Public Radio hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan about how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act provides funding for hydrogen hubs around the country to create networks of hydrogen fuel producers. “We're going to use hydrogen as a substitute for natural gas. In order for that to happen, we have to get the cost way down,” Stoner explains.