Vision:

The Mechanical Engineering Department's Center for 21st Century Energy is dedicated to developing technology that will move us towards a sustainable energy future. A broad spectrum of energy systems and new technologies will be needed for an orderly transition to energy use of increasing efficiency with a fuel mix of declining carbon intensity. As this century progresses, this mix must increasingly become independent of petroleum, the first of the major fossil fuels likely to become supply limited.

 

Mission Statement:

Our mission is to educate the next generation of leaders in energy science and technology through a ground-breaking program of fundamental and applied research. This research will be focused on developing new energy technologies with characteristics appropriate to the needs of the next 50 years, and on ways to make major improvements in the efficiency and environmental impacts of current mainstream energy technologies. Success in both of these research thrusts is essential for progress towards a more sustainable energy future.

 

Strategy:

Our strategy is to encourage and support collaborative initiatives in energy research, based on the expertise and research interests of interested faculty members. The Center brings together existing and new energy-related research carried out in the Department's existing laboratories and programs. These include: the Electrochemical Energy Laboratory, the Energy in Buildings Program, the Fuel Cell Laboratory, the Reacting Gas Dynamics Laboratory, the Rohsenow Heat and Mass Transfer Laboratory, and the Sloan Automotive Laboratory. The Center for 21st Century Energy will also collaborate with energy researchers in other MIT Departments, and provide its engineering expertise to MIT's multidisciplinary Laboratory for Energy and the Environment through active involvement in its projects.

 

Current Focus Areas:

Initially, our focus areas are those where our expertise and that of our potential research partners provides the greatest opportunities to contribute to energy sustainability. Two major energy sectors in which our expertise is currently being actively applied are transportation and environmental conditioning.

In transportation, the major challenge is to increase vehicle fuel economy, reduce emissions, and initiate the transition to non-petroleum fuels. Here we are working on improving combustion engines, developing viable fuel cell and advanced battery systems, and exploring innovative approaches to using hydrogen in engines and fuel cell powered vehicles.

In environmental conditioning, the United States per capita energy use is among the highest in the world, in part because the per capita space usage is also high. One important challenge is to apply environmental conditioning only to necessary regions within a space, rather than uniformly throughout the space. Here we are working on small cryogenic systems that can provide precision cooling to small areas. That work is being expanded to scales and temperatures suitable for cooling electronics, sensors, and personal spaces.

We are also exploring the opportunities for thermoelectric energy technologies. Work has been initiated on advanced materials where, by exploiting nanoscale phenomena and technology, new precision applications to energy conversion may be feasible. New approaches to the design and manufacture of solar voltaic cells to reduce their cost significantly are an important area of focus within the Department as well.

 

People Involved:

The Mechanical Engineering Department faculty involved in the Center for 21st Century Energy include: Professors John Brisson, Gang Chen, Wai Cheng, Ernest Cravalho, Ahmed Ghoniem, Leon Glicksman, Timothy Gutowski, John Heywood, John Lienhard, Borivoje Mikic, Emanuel Sachs, Yang Shao-Horn, Joseph Smith, and Research Staff members Drs. Tian Tian, and Victor Wong. Professor Heywood is the Director of the Center.

If you are interested in further details of the Center's programs and plans, connect with the web sites of the individual laboratory units, and the faculty involved.