MIT Energy Research Recent Advances

MIT Examines Reality of Slashing Gasoline Use
Fuel use by all vehicles on U.S. roads can be slashed to pre-2000 levels within a few decades but doing so would require immediate action on several challenging fronts, according to a new analysis by MIT researchers.

Students Harness Sunlight in Innovative Ways
One team of students is assembling a prototype for a concentrating solar power system built from simple, inexpensive materials. Another team's design for backpack-mounted solar cells might give soldiers working in sunny but remote areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan a boost of power for their electronic devices.

Tracking and Reducing Carbon Footprints
An MIT class tracked the carbon footprints of different lifestyles and found that anyone who lives in the U.S. contributes more than twice as much greenhouse gas to the atmosphere as the global average. A series of new campus energy conservation projects—such as office lights that turn themselves off when no one is around and lab bench fans that shut down when you walk away—will help MIT reduce its footprint.

Gifts Aid Electric Energy, Solar Power Research
A $4 million gift by alumnus Emanuel E. Landsman '58, SM '59, ScD '66 and his wife, Sheila E. Landsman, will support the fields of power electronics and electric energy-related engineering. A gift from the Chesonis Family Foundation will advance solar research with the aim of making solar power America's primary carbon-free fuel.