mit posts, articles, and infographics

Ubiquitous Energy: A Solar Game-Changer?

March 12, 2012 by Nino Marchetti
with 649 views

Can solar cells be manufactured directly onto common materials like paper or textiles? MIT's latest whiz kid thinks they can.

Anyone who knew Miles C. Barr as a kid no doubt realized he’d go far. His early childhood “inventions” included a robotic walking monkey built using a windshield-wiper motor from an abandoned school bus and a hovercraft he’d assembled with parts from a vacuum cleaner and a porch table. Likewise those who met him during his undergrad... [read more]

Michael Graetz’s “The End of Energy” Surveys 40 Years of Energy Policy-- And It Isn’t Pretty.

January 17, 2012 by Michael Giberson
with 381 views

Michael J. Graetz, "The End of Energy," MIT Press, 2011. Michael Graetz’s The End of Energy is a fascinating run through 40 years of U.S. energy policy making. Engaging and at times even entertaining if you are at all interested in energy issues. In Graetz’s telling it is mostly a story of 40 years of failure, though he notes a few... [read more]

MIT Study: Rebound Effects Erode Auto Efficiency Gains

January 10, 2012 by Jesse Jenkins
with 446 views

Automotive engines steadily improved in efficiency by roughly 60 percent from 1980 to 2006, according to a new study by MIT economist Christopher Knittel. That means we could already be driving cars that get an average of 37 miles per gallon (MPG), well above today's average of 27 MPG. The catch, points out Reason's Ronald Bailey: we'... [read more]

Which Side Of The Solar Trade Wars Are You On?

January 9, 2012 by Marc Gunther
with 835 views

Should we worry about Chinese government subsidies to its solar industry? Or send the Chinese a thank-you note? A group of seven US-based manufacturers of solar panels is alarmed. These manufacturers, led by Solar World, a German firm with a plant in Oregon, filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission, which... [read more]

The Climate Reality Project – An Inconvenient Next Step?

September 23, 2011 by David Hone
with 727 views

Last week I went to the London showing of Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project - it was one of 24 consecutive presentations held around the world on the 15th of September. There was a lot to look forward to in attending this, particularly to see how Mr Gore would respond to the troubling attacks on the science currently seen in some political debates and the continued challenge to carbon pricing policy in countries like Australia. [read more]

Nuclear Fission Superior to Other Energy Sources

September 9, 2011 by Rod Adams
with 415 views

Guest article by Charles Forsberg.The below originally appeared on April 28, 2011 in a Bulletin of Atomic Scientists roundtable discussion titled “Is nuclear energy different from other energy sources?” Charles’s contribution was titled “Mutually assured energy independence.” It was so good that I contacted Charles and obtained his... [read more]

Are MIT Students Smarter Than 5th Graders?

August 10, 2011 by Gernot Wagner
with 484 views

Ask any climate scientist to explain global warming to a fifth grader, and they will pull out the bathtub analogy: The atmosphere is the tub. The level of carbon is the water standing in said tub. There’s a spigot and a sink—water in and water out. For the longest time, carbon in and carbon out of the atmosphere have been in balance.... [read more]

Worried About Too Much Demand Elasticity In Electric Power Markets

August 8, 2011 by Michael Giberson
with 453 views

Will electric power consumers facing smart-grid enabled real time prices have the potential to accidentally destabilize the power grid and cause a blackout? A paper presented at a recent IEEE conference says it is a possibility. The surprising culprit? Too much price elasticity in the market demand function. It is a surprising... [read more]

Back to Basics on Climate Science

July 5, 2011 by David Hone
with 1,345 views

Last week I had the privilege to attend an MIT forum and listen to the keynote address given by Nobel laureate Mario Molina. The subject of the address was the issue of conveying an understanding of the science of climate change to the general public. Professor Molina won the Nobel Prize and is best known for his work in identifying the role of chloro-fluorocarbons in the destruction of the ozone layer. [read more]

Gas Helps (Not Hurts) Renewables And 7 Other Reasons Gas Can Be Green

June 16, 2011 by Matthew Van Dusen
with 297 views

Last week was a good one if you happen to own a natural gas well. Two reports on the outlook for natural gas, gave a glowing assessment of the fuel’s future prospects but one predicted dire consequences for the planet if gas becomes a dominant fuel. Here are eight reasons that view is overly pessimistic, at least in the short run. [read more]

Critique of MIT Nuclear Fuel Cycle Report

June 1, 2011 by Dan Yurman
with 561 views

MIT (energy initiative) recently released a controversial and well-publicized report on the future of the nuclear fuel cycle. The authors argue that there is sufficient uranium to allow ongoing deployment of water-cooled reactors for many decades. They recommend that no far-reaching decision be made yet on the ultimate disposal of the 'spent' nuclear fuel so produced and suggest that research on technical solutions can be ongoing over this period, with no particular urgency. [read more]

Hitchhiker's Guide to Boston Energy Organizations and Companies

May 3, 2011 by Christopher Williams
with 275 views

Boston is a great place if you’re into the good green stuff. There plenty of companies, incubators, organizations, and journalists covering the cleantech industry spreading news about what’s happening. But the truth is, although it seems like things are happening “everywhere” sometimes it can hard to figure them out and keep track of... [read more]

Deus Ex Machina

March 29, 2011 by Michael Tobis
with 195 views

Science Magazine has the story of a potentially huge technological win, an "artificial leaf" made of cheap materials via MIT that uses ambient sunlight to catalyze the production of hydrogen and oxygen from water. If this works out, the "hydrogen economy" will suddenly be back on the table.It won't solve all of our problems by any means... [read more]

Critical Materials: Insights from the MIT Energy Conference

March 21, 2011 by David Cohen-Tanugi
with 134 views

Lithium - a critical element for energy? (Courtesy of Treehugger.com) At the MIT Energy Conference last week, the energy was palpable – literally. The event, which annually attracts hundreds of energy professionals and students (including a number of AEL fellows and authors this year), brought to the table a refreshing mix of hard-nosed... [read more]

Pragmatic view of the Nuclear Renaissance from Dr. Moniz

March 2, 2011 by Rod Adams
with 722 views

Dan Rather interviewed Dr. Ernest Moniz as part of an in-depth look at nuclear energy, its future prospects in the United States and its current technological position. Dr. Moniz is a professor at MIT, was one of the co-chairs of the study group that produced MIT's recent report titled The Future of Natural Gas and serves on the Blue... [read more]