News

Alsym Energy—cofounded by Kripa Varanasi (Mechanical Engineering)—is developing rechargeable batteries that match the performance of lithium-ion cells without using lithium or cobalt. Instead, the batteries use manganese oxide for one of its electrodes and a water-based electrolyte solution. 

Cowriting for The Hill, Catherine Wolfram (MIT Sloan) presents evidence arguing for U.S. politicians to embrace carbon pricing: “2025 will be a big year for Congress to tackle longstanding fiscal issues and further climate policy efforts.” 

In the green building revolution, architects are increasingly using renewable, organic, and carbon-absorbing materials to decrease the environmental impact of their structures. “At this critical moment, what we architects do matters more than ever. [...] Every kilowatt-hour of solar power, every unit of zero-carbon housing, and every calorie of sustainably sourced vegetables will be multiplied across history,” states Carlo Ratti (Urban Studies and Planning). 

Carbon capture and storage technologies can be used to address climate change, but MITEI Senior Research Engineer Howard Herzog warns they aren’t a “silver bullet.”

Last year, solar accounted for more than half of the nation’s energy additions to the grid—the first time grid additions have been dominated by a renewable source since hydropower during WWII. The growth of renewable energy projects is “very likely to continue because solar and wind are now very well established. Solar costs continue to fall far below where we ever thought they would,” states MITEI Director Robert Stoner.

A new analysis—co-authored by MITEI Deputy Director for Policy Chris Knittel—shows areas in the United States with the highest concentration of jobs that may be most impacted by the renewable energy transition.

The Clean Investment Monitor database—developed by the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research and the Rhodium Group—has found that the “U.S. is generally heading in the right direction to achieve its energy goals to combat climate change, but it could still face headwinds due to siting and permitting delays, backlogged electric grid connection requests, and supply chain challenges.”

The MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research and the Rhodium Group have provided a new analysis of the successes and shortcomings of President Biden’s climate bill, with the biggest renewable energy obstacles being logistical ones.

Former U.S. Secretary of Energy and founding director of MITEI Ernest Moniz and his Energy Futures Initiative Foundation will head the Hydrogen Demand Initiative (H2DI)—a consortium designed to create an organized market for hydrogen. H2DI includes MITEI, S&P Global, Dentons, and the Intercontinental Exchange.

Carlos Ratti (Urban Studies and Planning) explains how Boston can create an effective congestion pricing policy by learning from New York's and Singapore’s efforts to decrease the number of cars on the road and incentivize public transit use.

John Parsons (MIT Sloan) discusses the future of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)—a nuclear technology that is smaller and cheaper to build than traditional reactors.

Led by Mircea Dincă (Chemistry), MIT chemists developed a lithium-ion battery with a cathode based on organic materials—rather than scarce metals—decreasing the battery’s social and environmental costs.