MITEI collaborates on research and education activities with faculty members from many MIT centers, departments, and laboratories pursuing interdisciplinary energy and environmental activities. In particular, researchers from both the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR) and the MIT Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy (CS3) are funded by MITEI through Future Energy Systems Center and sponsored projects and are collaborating on the Future of Fuels study and other special projects. The senior research scientists in CS3 have MIT appointments administered by MITEI.
Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR)
CEEPR promotes research on energy and environmental policy to support improved decision-making by government and industry. It is directed by Christopher Knittel, MIT Sloan School Associate Dean for Climate and Sustainability and the George P. Shultz Professor of Applied Economics, and jointly sponsored by MITEI, the Department of Economics, and the MIT Sloan School of Management. A subset of companies has membership in both MITEI’s Future Energy Systems Center and CEEPR, and the two centers conduct joint recruitment of some companies, particularly for the Data Center Power Forum.
CEEPR carries out rigorous and objective research for improved decision-making in government and the private sector and closely cooperates with government and industry partners from around the globe. Affiliated faculty and research staff as well as external research affiliates contribute to the empirical study of a wide range of policy issues related to energy supply and demand and the environment. CEEPR produces working papers, policy briefs, and research input to larger, interdisciplinary studies, and hosts two annual research workshops at MIT. CEEPR has extensive previous and current international collaborations and has co-organized a series of international energy policy conferences.
CEEPR houses the Roosevelt Project, a research initiative that takes a multidisciplinary approach to examining the transitional challenges associated with deep decarbonization of the U.S. economy. The project was initiated by former U.S. Secretary of Energy and Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems emeritus Ernest J. Moniz and engages a breadth of MIT and Harvard faculty and researchers across academic domains including economics, engineering, sociology, urban studies and planning, and political science.
Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy (CS3)
In July 2024, the MIT School of Science launched a center to advance knowledge and computational capabilities in the field of sustainability science, and support decision-makers in government, industry, and civil society to achieve sustainability goals. Researchers at the CS3 develop and apply expertise from across the Institute to improve understanding of sustainability challenges, and thereby provide actionable knowledge and insight to inform strategies for improving human well-being for current and future generations. Noelle Selin, TEPCO Professor at MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems and Society and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, serves as the center’s inaugural faculty director. C. Adam Schlosser and Sergey Paltsev, a senior research scientist at MITEI, serve as deputy directors, with Anne Slinn as executive director. CS3 incorporates and succeeds both the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change and the Center for Global Change Science.