Spotlights: Transformations

MIT engineers work toward cell-sized batteries

The energy for tomorrow's miniature electronic devices could come from tiny microbatteries about half the size of a human cell and built with viruses. MIT engineers have developed a way to at once create and install such microbatteries by stamping them onto a variety of surfaces. Posted 4 September 2008

Getting wrapped up in solar textiles

Sheila Kennedy, an expert in the integration of solar cell technology in architecture, is creating designs for flexible photovoltaic materials that may change the way buildings receive and distribute energy. Posted 21 August 2008

MIT creates new material for fuel cells

MIT engineers have improved the power output of one type of fuel cell by more than 50 percent through technology that could help these environmentally friendly energy storage devices find a much broader market, particularly in portable electronics. Posted 16 July 2008

New 'snapshots' aid quest for fusion energy

Physicists at MIT and the University of Rochester have devised a new way to take "snapshots" of the high-energy, high-temperature reactions seen as key to achieving the long-held dream of controlled nuclear fusion. The work could one day help scientists harness nuclear fusion as an energy source. Posted 26 March 2008

Let the sun shine: new center to propel solar beyond silicon

Innovative energy storage devices such as tiny, flexible batteries, solar-powered fabrics and fuel cell components that actually build themselves are the focus of the MIT Energy Initiative’s new Center for Self-Assembling Materials for Energy. Posted 13 August 2007

MIT ethanol analysis clarifies benefits of biofuels

Controversy over the benefits of using corn-based ethanol in vehicles has been fueled by studies showing that converting corn into ethanol may use more fossil energy than the energy contained in the ethanol produced. Now a new MIT analysis shows that the energy balance is actually so close that several factors can easily change whether ethanol ends up a net energy winner or loser. Posted 22 February 2007

Building solar cells from ribbons

Reducing the cost of solar power requires slashing the cost of manufacturing the silicon wafers on which solar cells are built. A technique first proposed in the 1980s by Professor Emanuel M. Sachs of mechanical engineering is doing just that by doubling the number of wafers made per pound of expensive silicon. Posted 7 February 2007

Underground heat: an omnipresent source of electricity

A new MIT-led study concluded that a major future energy source is in the ground beneath us — not coal or natural gas or oil but heat trapped in underground rocks virtually everywhere. Posted 29 January 2007

Engineered yeast speeds ethanol production

MIT scientists have engineered yeast that can improve the speed and efficiency of ethanol production, a key component to making biofuels a significant part of the U.S. energy supply. Posted 7 December 2006

Saying goodbye to batteries

Researchers at MIT are developing a new device that has the potential to hold as much energy as a conventional battery but could be recharged in seconds rather than hours, would last almost indefinitely, and won't mind the cold. Posted 19 October 2006

Giant wind turbines, floating out of sight

An MIT researcher has a vision: 400 huge offshore wind turbines providing onshore customers with enough electricity to power several hundred thousand homes — and nobody standing onshore can see them. Posted 25 August 2006

Novel fusion device mimics the planets

A novel device built by MIT and Columbia University researchers suggests that nature's way of trapping hot, ionized gases called plasma could one day provide a means of harnessing nuclear fusion. Posted 30 June 2006

A recipe for solar energy: learning from nature

For the past 20 years, MIT Professor Daniel G. Nocera of chemistry has been working on a novel system for producing pollution-free energy in real time without adding fuel. Posted 9 June 2006