Today, there are 94 nuclear reactors operating in the United States, more than in any other country in the world, and these units collectively provide nearly 20 percent of the nation’s electricity. That is a major accomplishment, according to Dean Price, but he believes that our country needs much more out of nuclear energy, especially […]
Read More
Hydrogen sits at the center of some of the world’s most important industrial processes, but its production still comes with a heavy environmental cost. Today, most hydrogen is produced through high-emissions processes like steam methane reforming and coal gasification. But hydrogen can also be made by splitting water molecules using renewable electricity, eliminating fossil fuel emissions […]
Read More
Batteries that use solid metal as their charge-carrying electrolyte could potentially be a safer and far more energy-dense alternative to lithium-ion batteries. However, these solid-state batteries have been plagued by the formation of metallic cracks called dendrites that cause them to short circuit. The problem has so far prevented such batteries from becoming a major […]
Read More
Active Surfaces, a startup based on solar-energy technologies rooted in MIT research, is well on its way to developing what co-founder Richard Swartwout SM ’18, PhD ’21 calls “solar 2.0.” The company’s technology is in response to a need Swartwout recognized while observing energy challenges in India during an MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) fellowship. Within […]
Read More
This somewhat pie-in-the-sky thought exercise is worth doing if for no other reason than it forces us to ask what are we doing? What wanton waste of our treasure accompanies our appetite for conflicts costing hundreds of thousands of lives? What do we, the taxpayers who are actually footing this bill, truly want our tax […]
Read More
Thermal batteries can efficiently store energy as heat. But building them requires a carefully designed system with materials that can withstand cycles of extremely high temperatures, without succumbing to problems like corrosion, thermal expansion, and structural fatigue. Many thermal battery systems move high-temperature gas or molten salt around through metal pipes. Fourth Power, founded by […]
Read More
Geothermal energy, a clean, continuous energy source accessible in many locations, has been slow to catch on. Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Romans made extensive use of geothermal energy — heat from the Earth — including at the spa complex at present-day Bath, England. Electricity was first produced from geothermal sources in the early 1900s […]
Read More