Los Angeles Times reporter Rob Nikolewski spotlights a report by researchers from MIT and Stanford University that finds keeping the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California running would reduce electricity costs and help the state achieve its climate goals. “Nuclear plants – and Diablo Canyon is no exception – are one such clean and firm [source of] power capacity that we think should be preserved,” says Prof. Jacopo Buongiorno.
Forbes reporter Ken Silverstein highlights a joint study by MIT and Stanford researchers that finds that extending the California Diablo Canyon Power Plant will save customers billions while reducing carbon emissions. The researchers found that “if the plant stayed operational from 2025 to 2035,” writes Silverstein, “CO2 levels would drop by 10% a year and displace natural gas use, saving customers $2.6 billion.”
Financial Times reporter Michael Pooler highlights MIT startup Boston Metals, which has devised “a technology for making brand-new steel without emissions using electricity.”
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.
Assistant Prof. Canan Dagdeviren speaks with Charles Q. Choi of The Atlantic about developing an implantable device that can produce electricity from internal movements of the muscles and organs. As the movements generate what is known as piezoelectricity, the implant can “run biomedical devices like cardiac pacemakers instead of changing them every six or seven years when their batteries are depleted,” Dagdeviren explains.
The Economist highlights MIT spinout ClearMotion, which developed a suspension system that utilized bumpy roads to generate electricity. Later, the team realized that their system also created a smoother ride, when ran in reverse. “The effect is to level out a rough road by pushing the wheels down into dips and pulling them up over bumps.”
On PRI's "The World," Francis O'Sullivan, director of research for MITEI, explains how microgrids can help make the electric grid more resilient against mass blackouts in future natural disasters like Hurricane Irma.
Rick Shaffer highlights WiTricity, an MIT spinout, in a Boston Herald article about affordable, easily accessible alternative energy. The company is developing wireless charging pads for electric and hybrid vehicles, which will prevent people from “forgetting to plug a charging cord into their vehicle when they return home.”
Jane Porter writes for Fortune about WiTricity, an MIT spinout focused on the development of wireless power-transfer technology. By using vibrational frequencies, electricity can be transferred over distances of up to four feet.