News

"The report focuses on a persistent problem facing renewable energy: how to store it. Storing fossil fuels like coal or oil until it's time to use them isn't a problem, but storage systems for solar and wind energy are still being developed that would let them be used long after the sun stops shining or the wind stops blowing," says Asher Klein for NBC10 Boston on MITEI's "Future of Energy Storage" report.

Zeolite, a common type of clay found in cat litter, has been found to absorb methane from the air when treated with a small amount of copper. The new technique, developed by researchers at MIT, has the potential to greatly reduce the amount of methane in the atmosphere and slow warming temperatures on the planet.

Researchers at MIT have built a highly efficient thermophotovoltaic cell that converts incoming photons to electricity.

MITEI Research Scientist Dharik Mallapragada comments on the role that home batteries could have in complementing the electric grid.

John Sterman and David Keith (MIT Sloan) propose “Cash for Clunkers” program in which new car buyers are paid to scrap their combustion vehicles. Incentivizing decommissioning vs. reselling old combustion vehicles would speed vehicle retirement, cut U.S. oil consumption, accelerate the transformation of the transportation sector, increase consumer choice, and help achieve climate goals.

Caitlin Mueller (Architecture) and her Digital Structures research team have developed an approach to replace load-bearing joints in construction with discarded tree forks.

Carlo Ratti (Urban Studies and Planning) explores how coordination among ride-hailing services can benefit cities by reducing traffic and carbon emissions.

MITEI's new Future Energy Systems Center aims to find technology-based solutions to climate change, such as systems to capture carbon dioxide emissions, infrastructure for fast-charging electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles, and power-grid options including zero-emission neighborhoods.

Verdox, an electric carbon capture and removal startup spun out of MIT, was announced as a winner of the $1M XPRIZE Carbon Removal Milestone award. This XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition is the largest incentive prize in history and the XPRIZE Carbon Removal teams represent the largest collection of innovators working on carbon removal. Phase two of the competition will see an additional $80M distributed among three winners in 2025.

Jessika Trancik (Institute of Data, Systems, and Society) discusses the urgent need to transition to renewable energy sources, and how we can build a future powered by alternative energy.

Researchers from MIT and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory successfully achieved a nearly 30% efficiency increase in a thermophotovoltaic cell—a semiconductor structure that converts photons from heat into electricity, similar to the way a solar cell changes sunlight into power.