In the media

Iron-air batteries: Huge green-energy breakthrough, or just a lot of hype?

An iron-air battery prototype developed by MIT spinout Form Energy could usher in a “sort of tipping point for green energy: reliable power from renewable sources at less than $20 per kilowatt hour,” says Washington Post columnist David Von Drehle.

Are electric cars ‘green’? The answer is yes, but it’s complicated

Sergey Paltsev (MITEI, MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change) discusses the total lifetime emissions associated with electric vehicles and how infrastructure must change to make them an even more environmentally friendly option.

Startup claims breakthrough in long-duration batteries

Form Energy, an MIT spinout co-founded by Yet-Ming Chiang (Materials Science and Engineering), has developed a low-cost, iron-air battery that can discharge power for days and could have big ramifications for storing electricity on the power grid.

Climate change goals and oil production are clashing in the U.S.

Sergey Paltsev, deputy director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, emphasizes the importance of reaching net-zero emissions as fast as possible. “By pushing natural gas—which is indeed cleaner than coal, but it’s still a fossil fuel that releases a lot of CO2 and more importantly, a lot of methane—we are actually hurting renewables,” says Paltsev.

U.S. Department of Energy targets vastly cheaper batteries to clean up the grid

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced a new goal to reduce the cost of grid-scale, long-duration energy storage by 90 percent by 2030. MITEI’s Nestor Sepulveda SM ’16 PhD ’20 says, “One big obstacle right now is that there’s no policy requirements for utilities to build long-duration storage.”

Meet the world’s most influential women engineers

Forbes has released a list of the 100 most influential female engineers across the globe. Four of the top 10 are MIT faculty members, including Barbara Liskov, the Ford Professor of Engineering, Dava Newman, the Apollo Professor of Aeronautics, and MITEI affiliates Daniela Rus, the director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and Dina Katabi, the Andre and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

How to get all the toothpaste out of the tube

MIT spinout LiquiGlide’s super slippery, food-safe coating will be used by Colgate to create a new line of toothpaste that promises to deliver every last drop. Co-founded by Kripa Varanasi (Mechanical Engineering), the initial research for LiquiGlide was supported by MITEI’s Seed Fund Program.

How green are electric vehicles?

Jessika Trancik (Institute for Data, Systems, and Society) discusses the benefits of EVs over hybrid vehicles in achieving our emissions reduction goals. Her lab has created an interactive tool that compares the relative climate impacts of a wide array of different cars based on range of relevant factors.

The controversial future of nuclear power in the U.S.

Jacopo Buongiorno (Nuclear Science and Engineering) discusses findings from MITEI’s Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon Constrained World study and the need for significant cost reductions if nuclear energy is going to play a significant role in decarbonizing the U.S. power sector.

MIT spinout LiquiGlide lands $13.5 million to make toothpaste tubes less frustrating

MIT spinout LiquiGlide announced that it has secured $13.5 million in funding, bringing its total raised to $50 million. Co-founded by Kripa Varanasi (Mechanical Engineering), LiquiGlide has developed a slippery coating for the inside of bottles or tubes that prevents sticking of any viscous liquids. The initial research for LiquiGlide was supported by MITEI’s Seed Fund Program.

More clean energy will demand bigger battery storage to power New England grid

Elsa Olivetti (Materials Science and Engineering) and Chris Knittel (MIT Sloan School of Management) discuss the future of renewable energy in New England.

Transmission upgrades could hold the key to New England clean energy goals

Christopher Knittel (Sloan School of Management) discusses the challenges of gaining approval for new cross-state or cross-country transmission lines, which are essential to assisting New England in reaching its clean energy goals.

Could tiny sensors keep methane out of the atmosphere—and homes?

Tim Swager (Chemistry) and his team have developed customizable and inexpensive sensors that can detect and monitor methane in a wide array of contexts—from industrial, natural, or home settings—with the goal of mitigating the gas’ harmful impacts.

Technology innovation gives government leverage to drive down emissions fast – here’s how

Jessika Trancik (Institute for Data, Systems, and Society) explores how government policies can help spark innovation in solar, wind and battery markets, helping to reduce carbon emissions.

How a World Expo helped power the planet

Robert Jaffe (Physics) and Joel Jean SM ’13 PhD ’17, co-founder and CEO of Swift Solar (a solar technology start-up), comment on the roles that World Expos have played in promoting energy technology development throughout history.

Negative emissions, positive economy

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, a negative emissions process that converts biomass into energy and captures and stores the carbon, could be an economically effective tool to meet global climate goals when paired with dramatic emissions-reduction measures, says a new study from MITEI and the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change.

Lithium battery costs have fallen by 98% in three decades

The price of lithium-ion batteries has dropped significantly since 1991, according to a new analysis by Jessika Trancik (Institute for Data, Systems, and Society) and others. The analysis shows the drop parallels similar improvements in solar and wind energy technologies and that further steep declines could be possible.

'Big storage' is the next big technology in the climate fight

Innovative, low-cost long duration energy storage technologies could make a large impact in a more affordable and reliable energy transition. A new paper in Nature Energy by researchers at MITEI and Princeton University’s Andlinger Center for Energy and Environment evaluates the role and value that these technologies could have in securing a carbon-free electric grid and find that they have the potential to lower electricity prices in a carbon-free system by up to 40%.

Why we aren’t at ‘peak car’ yet—and what can reverse the trend

In a recent MITEI podcast, Joanna Moody of MITEI's Mobility Systems Center and David Keith, a professor in the MIT Sloan System Dynamics Group, address three important questions about how to shift the U.S. away from private car ownership.

GM signs deal with MIT-spinout to reduce electric vehicle battery costs by 60%

SolidEnergy Systems, a spinout of MIT, and General Motors will jointly develop next-generation electric vehicle batteries, featuring lithium metal instead of lithium-ion, that are expected to cut the cost of the technology by 60%.