September 10, 2019 by David Chandler 3 Comments

We should all be driving electric vehicles. But we have to wait for renewable electric grid capacity to support them all, charging points everywhere, and enough new batteries to be manufactured and put in all the new, affordable BEVs. And we’re running out of time. An interim solution has come from a study by MIT and Ford. David Chandler, writing for MIT, explains the study, which says that an interim solution – for certain regions - is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Transport and energy Tagged With: BEV, cars, emissions, gasoline, ICE, oil, Paris2050, petrol, transport

July 15, 2019 by David Chandler

In conventional silicon-based solar cells, each photon of light can only knock loose a single electron, creating electricity. That’s even if the photon carries more than enough energy to do so. One hammer, one nail. Now, for the first time researchers at MIT and Princeton University in the U.S. have got high-energy photons to strike silicon and kick out two electrons instead of one, opening the door for a new kind of solar cell with greater … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Innovations, Renewables Tagged With: efficiency, electrons, excitons, MIT, photons, Princeton, silicon, solar, solarPV

September 19, 2017 by David Chandler

"Shell wants to be a voice and a leader in the energy transition", said Harry Brekelmans, the projects and technology director for Royal Dutch Shell, a founding member of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI). But the company must "not abandon the process that made us a leader", namely production and distribution of oil and gas. Brekelmans met with groups of MIT students and faculty members for a public discussion about energy issues with MITEI … [Read more...]

Filed Under: *, Climate policy, Energy, Oil, Gas & Coal Tagged With: carbon bubble, CCS, climate change, electricity market, energy storage, energy transition, financing, natural gas, oil, renewables, solar power, sustainable mobility, wind power