Energy
“If one advance could transform America's prospects, it would be ready access, at scale, to a range of affordable, renewable, low-carbon energy technologies. Only one path will lead to such transformative technologies: research.” - Susan Hockfield
Progress toward the long-sought dream of fusion power — potentially an inexhaustible and zero-carbon source of energy — could be about to take a dramatic leap forward.
Development of...
The pace of advances in key clean energy technologies has been growing faster than many experts have predicted, to the point that solar and wind power, combined with systems for storing their...
The ceiling fan is one of the most widely used mechanical appliances in the world. It is also, in many cases, one of the least efficient.
In India, ceiling fans have been used for...
The arrangement of a city’s streets and buildings plays a crucial role in the local urban heat island effect, which causes cities to be hotter than their surroundings, researchers have found. The...
The MIT Energy Initiative continues to develop and expand its eight Low-Carbon Energy Centers, which facilitate...
To make fusion energy a reality, scientists must harness fusion plasma, a fiery gaseous maelstrom in which radioactive particles react to generate heat for electricity. But the turbulence of...
Thermoelectric devices, which can generate power when one side of the device is a different temperature from the other, have been the subject of much research in recent years. Now, a team at MIT...
Ensuring that her research contributes to society’s well-being is a major driving force for Jennifer Rupp.
“Even if my work...
MIT engineers working with scientists in Kuwait have found that volcanic rocks, when pulverized into a fine ash, can be used as a sustainable additive in concrete structures.
In a paper...
MIT undergraduates who interned with MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) member companies in summer 2017 had the chance to work abroad on a wide range of energy projects, from analyzing fuel additives...
The MIT Energy Initiative continues to develop and expand its eight Low-Carbon Energy Centers, which facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration...
For the past four years, Jing Li ’11 has been studying energy technologies that could help the world move to a low-carbon future. Her expertise is technology diffusion and adoption. Fresh out of...
For quantum dot (QD) materials to perform well in devices such as solar cells, the nanoscale crystals in them need to pack together tightly so that electrons can hop easily from one dot to the...
A type of battery first invented nearly five decades ago could catapult to the forefront of energy storage technologies, thanks to a new finding by researchers at MIT. The battery, based on...
What if you could run your air conditioner not on conventional electricity, but on the sun’s heat during a warm summer’s day? With advancements in thermoelectric technology, this sustainable...
When global oil prices declined dramatically in 2014 and 2015, leading energy analysts expected that oil production in the United States — consisting primarily of tight oil extracted from...
Topological effects, such as those found in crystals whose surfaces conduct electricity while their bulk does not, have been an exciting topic of physics research in recent years and were the...
Using electrodes made of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can significantly improve the performance of devices ranging from capacitors and batteries to water desalination systems. But figuring out the...
Nick Schwartz likes to describe himself as “a nerd with a heart.” Before finals period at the end of each fall semester, the mechanical engineering senior and nuclear fusion enthusiast dons a...
The worldwide quest by researchers to find better, more efficient materials for tomorrow’s solar panels is usually slow and painstaking. Researchers typically must produce lab samples — which are...
This fall’s record-breaking hurricanes Maria and Irma left a swath of devastation across the Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico, Granada, Dominica, and others. Photos of severely damaged or...
Climate change is one of the biggest, most complex problems facing society today, and one that can only be solved through collaboration that draws different stakeholders together to work toward a...
The diverse group of energy leaders who spoke at the 2017 Clean Energy, Education, and Empowerment (C3E) Women in Clean Energy Symposium hailed from different professional, personal, and...
Power electronics, which do things like modify voltages or convert between direct and alternating current, are everywhere. They’re in the power bricks we use to charge our portable devices; they’...
To enhance the sustainability of homes and property projects in Thailand, Bangkok-based property developer Magnolia Quality Development Corporation Limited (MQDC) has joined the MIT Energy...