In the media

Here’s what every degree of heat rise could do to the economy

Christopher Knittel (MIT Sloan School of Management, MITEI) comments on technology developments that can help in the fight against climate change.

Builders Private Capital launches $300M clean energy investment platform

Francis O’Sullivan, MITEI’s former director of research and current senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, has joined Builders Private Capital—a climate-focused investment firm—as a managing director of the company’s new clean energy investment platform.

Sergey Paltsev from MIT’s Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change joins Yahoo Finance’s All Markets Summit 2021

Sergey Paltsev (MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, MITEI) discussed the path forward for climate action in the leadup to the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow this November with Yahoo Finance’s Brian Cheung at the 2021 Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit.

Nearly $7 million awarded in first Earthshot Prizes

Former MIT Tata Center Fellow Kevin Kung’s startup Takachar was one of the winners of the new Earthshot Prize, a newly established environmental prize organized by Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge. Takachar’s technology combats pollution from agricultural burning by converting crop residues into sellable bio-products like fuel and fertilizer.

Op-Ed: Helsinki wants to go greener sooner, so the city held a novel competition

Carlo Ratti (Architecture) discusses how the Finnish City of Helsinki hosted an Energy Challenge to solicit ideas and solutions to accelerate the city’s transition to green energy.

The startup growing protein with robots to decarbonize agriculture

MIT Tata Center spinout FYTO is working to decarbonize agriculture and produces protein-rich aquatic plants that are an environmentally friendly alternative to typical animal feed ingredients.

From soda to blackouts, a global gas crisis is causing havoc

MITEI’s Deputy Director for Policy Chris Knittel comments on the current global gas crisis and its implications for the gas industry moving forward. “If I’m thinking about drilling a well and I see the writing on the wall that these states are moving towards renewables over the next 10 years, I might not want to drill that well.”

In the future, we’ll use growing plants as lamps

Michael Strano (Chemical Engineering) and Sheila Kennedy (Architecture) have created light-emitting plants that utilize nanoparticles embedded in leaves.

‘This is a drug for the climate’: A new generation of Boston companies is trying to fight global warming

“MIT is a global powerhouse for climate change innovation, pumping out world-class talent in disciplines crucial for climate tech companies,” reports Pranshu Verma in the Boston Globe on spinouts like Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Form Energy, Via Separations, and more.

Can nuclear fusion put the brakes on climate change?

The New Yorker explores the history, current standing, and potential impacts of nuclear fusion in helping to decarbonize the world’s energy systems. Writer Rivka Galchen came to MIT’s campus and takes us from the early fusion efforts in the 1970s, to the founding of MIT spin-off Commonwealth Fusion Systems, and to last month’s successful test of a high temperature superconducting electromagnet.

Fusion energy nears Kitty Hawk moment

Dennis Whyte (Plasma Science and Fusion Center) and Bob Mumgaard (Commonwealth Fusion Systems) discuss the role of fusion energy and the ways in which MIT and Commonwealth Fusion Systems are working to make this elusive but planet-saving technology a reality.

Experts Are Divided on the Best Way for Automakers to Hit Fuel Efficiency Targets

John Heywood (Mechanical Engineering) comments on the role of hybrid vehicles in decarbonizing the automotive industry. “By making all of the standard gasoline engines hybrid, you get a roughly 30% improvement in fuel consumption,” he says.

MIT Scientists Report 'Major Advance' In Fusion Energy

"A future powered by fusion energy is closer than ever before," reports Vice on last week’s success test by the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center and spinout Commonwealth Fusion Systems of a key component of their fusion reactor: a magnet with a strength of 20 tesla.

Fusion gets closer with successful test of new kind of magnet at MIT start-up backed by Bill Gates

On September 5, 2021, for the first time, a large high-temperature superconducting electromagnet was ramped up to a field strength of 20 tesla, the most powerful magnetic field of its kind ever created on Earth.

Cambridge startup takes big step toward clean fusion power

The MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center and spinout Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) successfully tested the world’s most powerful superconducting magnet, capable of containing the immense energy of a fusion reaction, while consuming far less power than earlier magnets.

Study: Hydrogen power’s role in a green energy future Study: Hydrogen power’s role in a green energy future

In a study analyzing California’s power system, MITEI researchers Emre Gençer and Drake D. Hernandez SM ’21 show that hydrogen-generated electricity is a cost-competitive alternative to lithium-ion battery arrays for backing up solar and wind.

The inside of these bottles is so slippery, you can get all the lotion out

LiquiGlide, an MIT startup that has developed a non-toxic lubricant that ensures each drop of a product slides out of the bottle, is making an environmental impact by lessening waste and making recycling easier.

Building a better chemical factory—out of microbes

Kristala Jones Prather (Chemical Engineering) has made it practical to turn microbes into efficient producers of desired chemicals, while also working to reduce our dependence on petroleum.

What can we do now to avert the worst climate impacts?

Sergey Paltsev (MITEI, MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change) examines the findings of the most recent IPCC report on climate change, underscoring the need to take more aggressive action to cut carbon emissions.

Massachusetts Start-Up Hopes to Move a Step Closer to Commercial Fusion

MIT fusion energy spinout Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is nearing a technological milestone that could take the world a step closer to fusion energy. CFS plans to demonstrate their new magnet—a crucial component in their Tokamak reactor design—that is almost twice the strength of the magnets used by other fusion reactors.