In fall 2006, MIT President Susan Hockfield launched the MIT Energy Initiative, thrusting MIT into a new era of highly focused energy-related activity. MITEI is designed to help transform the global energy system to meet the needs of the future and to help build a bridge to that future by improving today's energy systems. The MITEI program now includes research, education, campus energy management, and outreach activities that cover all areas of energy supply and demand, security, and environmental impact.
For more information about MITEI programs and activities, visit the website at http://web.mit.edu/mitei.
The MITEI interdisciplinary research program focuses on:
Through its research program, MITEI addresses a critical link in the energy innovation chain—the pairing of MIT's world-class research teams with the best in industry who will be responsible for moving the products of this collaboration into the energy marketplace.
Specific MIT research areas include advanced nuclear fission, biofuels, buildings/urban design, conversion, enabling sciences, geothermal, global climate change, industrial processes, markets and policy, oceans, oil and gas, sequestration, solar, storage, systems/power, and vehicles/transportation systems.
The MITEI education program catalyzes student learning and enthusiasm to help solve the many scientific, technical, social, and political challenges associated with meeting today's energy challenges. It does so by developing cross-disciplinary learning opportunities, assisting students with energy opportunities beyond the classroom, and supporting student involvement through a variety of programs:
For more information about the MITEI Education Office, contact Dr. Amanda C. Graham, education program manager, Room E40-479, 617-253-8995, agraham@mit.edu, or visit http://mit.edu/mitei/education/office.html.
MITEI realizes that solutions for today's energy challenges are going to emerge not only from research laboratories and classrooms but also from practice-based management innovations that focus on minimizing the energy footprint of energy-intensive institutions such as MIT. Accordingly, MITEI's campus energy program seeks major reductions in Institute-wide energy use, using the campus as a learning laboratory. Among the activities are energy system upgrades, student-run projects to reduce energy use and emissions, on-campus testing of specific innovative measures, a major study to look at all energy options, and web postings of resulting guidelines for use by other universities and institutions.
By drawing on faculty, staff, and students, the MITEI Campus Energy Task Force is well positioned to engage leading MIT energy experts, draw on the newest technologies and approaches developed in their research, and build on the grounded expertise of MIT's administrative and operational resources to make MIT's campus a model of sustainability.
For more information, contact Steven Lanou ??? Amanda?
The Laboratory for Energy and the Environment (LFEE) provides administrative support for the Energy Initiative and operates under its umbrella to address complex interrelationships between energy and the environment. LFEE researchers consider the technological, economic, political, and social aspects of sustainable energy development and use, as well as of the environmental challenges to sustainable development.
LFEE is the MIT home of the Alliance for Global Sustainability (AGS), an 11-year partnership of four research universities—University of Tokyo, ETH-Zürich, Chalmers University of Technology, and MIT. Working with industry, government, and NGOs to develop sustainable solutions, AGS uses a fully integrated blend of research, education, and outreach to strengthen the knowledge needed for better decisions, policies, and technology development related to energy, food, and water. The MIT/AGS Program sponsors research and educational initiatives on sustainability at MIT. Ongoing work investigates energy pathways for a low-carbon future.
For more information, visit the LFEE website at lfee.mit.edu.