A new study by MIT researchers examines the environmental impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, reports Steven Reinberg for HealthDay. "If the pandemic leads to a persistent global recession, there is a real threat to the adoption of clean technology, which could outweigh any 'silver lining' in environmental benefits," says Prof. Jing Li.
A new study by MIT researchers finds that temperature increases caused by climate change could lead to a reduction in the energy produced by solar panels, reports Scott Snowden for Forbes. The researchers found that “on average, photovoltaic power output reduces by 0.45% for each degree increase in temperature.”
A working paper by Prof. Christopher Knittel finds that even “modest” carbon taxes could help reduce carbon emissions as much as vehicle and power plant regulations, reports Ben Geman for Axios. Knittel explains that the study’s findings “underscore the economic power of a carbon tax" compared to "economically inefficient" regulations.
Verge reporter Justine Calma writes that states in the Midwest and Great Lakes region could see $4.7 billion in health benefits by maintaining current renewable energy standards. “This research shows that renewables pay for themselves through health benefits alone,” explains Emil Dimanchev, senior research associate at MIT’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.
A new study by MIT researchers examining the impact of energy policies that reduce fine particulates in the air finds that there are “substantial health benefits in Rust Belt states when utilities are required to supply escalating amounts of renewable power,” reports Ben Geman for Axios.
A study by Prof. Jessika Trancik examines how cheap energy storage must be for the U.S. to rely on renewable energy, reports David Roberts for Vox. The research demonstrates how “a US energy grid run entirely on renewable energy (at least 95 percent of the time), leaning primarily on energy storage to provide grid flexibility, may be more realistic, and closer to hand, than conventional wisdom has it,” writes Roberts.
A study by MIT researchers finds that, compared to India’s current policy of inducing states to buy electricity from renewable sources, increasing the price of coal is a cheaper way to reduce carbon emissions in India, reports Kuwar Singh for Quartz. The researchers found that implementing “a tax on carbon consumption or a carbon market for selling and buying permits will be more than 10 times cheaper in lowering CO2 emissions of the Indian economy.”
A study by Prof. John Sterman finds that “burning wood for power releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per unit of electricity than coal,” reports Charlie McGee for The Wall Street Journal.
A new MIT study shows that “China’s move away from fossil fuels would mean 2,000 fewer premature deaths in the U.S. by 2030,” reports John Fialka for E&E News. "It reminds us that air pollution doesn't stop at national boundaries," said Prof. Valerie Karplus, a co-leader of the paper.
Profs. Daniel Rothman and Daniela Rus contributed to a Boston Globe piece exploring what the next big moonshot challenge should be. Rothman noted that, “We need to understand how the Earth system responds to environmental change,” while Rus expressed a desire to explore interspecies communication and the development of intelligent clothing.
A study by Prof. Dan Rothman finds that increasing greenhouse gas emission rates could trigger a mass extinction in the ocean, reports Priya Shukla for Forbes. Shukla writes that Rothman found if a certain carbon threshold “is breached, it would take tens of thousands of years for the oceans to return to their original unperturbable state.”
MIT researchers have developed a new method for potentially increasing solar cell efficiency beyond the theoretical limit, reports Daniel Oberhaus for Wired. “What’s cool here is that this is a fundamentally different approach from traditional photovoltaics,” says Joseph Berry of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
A study by Prof. Daniel Rothman finds that if carbon emissions exceed a critical threshold, it could lead to a mass extinction, reports Martin Finucane for The Boston Globe. "We should limit carbon dioxide emissions,” says Rothman. “The carbon cycle is a non-linear system, and if you perturb it, surprising things may happen.”
Graduate student Shekhar Chandra cites the work of Prof. Elfatih Eltahir in an article for CNN about the rising temperatures in India. “Experts at MIT say that even if the world succeeds in cutting carbon emissions, limiting the predicted rise in average global temperatures, parts of India will become so hot they will test the limits of human survivability,” writes Chandra.
In an article for Wired, Andrew McAfee, cofounder of MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy, argues that the increased energy use and pollution associated with new technology is actually offset by the physical concept of dematerialization. “[W]e don’t need to worry that the iPhone and its digital kin are going to gobble up the planet, or even put a big dent in it,” writes McAfee. “In fact, they’re doing the opposite.”