News

MITEI Senior Research Scientist Sergey Paltsev weighs in on the roadblocks facing hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle adoption, stating "The answer is very simple: economics." Among other factors, the lack of fueling infrastructure is keeping these vehicles behind their electric counterparts.

A new MITEI-funded study found that a disproportionate number of people in the southern United States experience energy poverty—when over 6% of a household’s income is spent on energy. “As the climate warms, we’re going to need to use more and more energy on air-conditioning, and that’s going to increase the burden on low-income households,” states co-author Christopher Knittel (MIT Sloan).

On the reopening of Three Mile Island, a former nuclear power plant now being considered as a power source for artificial intelligence, Jacopo Buongiorno (Nuclear Science and Engineering) states: “It’s further confirmation of the value of nuclear, and, if the deal is right—if the price is right—then it makes business sense, as well.”

The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant may be restarted so its electricity can be sold to Microsoft to power data centers. “We want Microsoft to buy their electricity from zero-carbon energy sources instead of from coal plants, so it is in the interest of all of us that this nuclear power plant gets reopened,” states John Parsons (MIT Sloan).

MIT startup Amogy is using ammonia produced by renewable energy as a carbon-free alternative for fueling tugboats. The 2,000-gallon tank of ammonia on the tugboat can power a 10–12-hour day at sea.

Yet-Ming Chiang (Materials Science and Engineering) has used his materials science research to build companies that aim to mitigate climate change through batteries, low-emissions cement, and other critical materials.

Solvable: How We Healed the Earth, and How We Can Do It Again—a new book by Susan Solomon (Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences)—has been spotlighted as a hopeful remedy for climate anxiety.

MIT engineers—led by Michael Strano (Chemical Engineering)—have designed a tiny zinc-air battery capable of deploying cell-sized autonomous robots for drug delivery within the body. Their findings may also have applications in the energy industry, aiding in the location of gas pipeline leaks.

Asegun Henry (Mechanical Engineering) has been named as a 2024 Grist honoree for his invention of the “sun in a box,” a cost-effective system for storing renewable energy.

The first U.S. trial of heat pump technology being provided to an entire neighborhood by a major utility is being conducted by Eversource in Framingham, MA. Weighing in on the trial, MITEI Senior Research Scientist Sergey Paltsev says, “If we are really serious about decarbonization, we need to study all the possible options.”

A new MITEI-funded study is advancing technologies required for fusion energy. Led by Ju Li (Nuclear Science and Engineering), MIT engineers have found a way to make structural materials last longer under the harsh conditions inside a fusion reactor.

MITEI Founding Director Ernest Moniz discusses hydrogen’s importance in decarbonizing industry and creating a pathway to a zero-carbon energy system. In particular, geological hydrogen could be a game-changing energy source.