July-September 1997 Issue


News Items, July- September1997

A ceremony and press conference were held on July 14 in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to announce the findings of the study, "Economic, Environmental, and Energy Life-Cycle Assessment of Coal Conversion to Automotive Fuels." The study involved life-cycle analyses to assess the effects on consumer cost, environmental impacts, and energy efficiency of switching from petroleum-based gasoline to coal-based fuels including methanol, gasoline, and electricity. (See the article in this issue for additional details.) The event was covered by about 40 press agencies and TV stations and attended by 75 Chinese government officials and representatives. Speeches were given by John McTague, vice president for technical affairs, Ford Motor Company; Vaughn Koshkarian, vice president, Ford Motor Company, and president, Ford Motor (China) Ltd.; Xu Guanhua, vice chairman, State Science and Technology Commission of China; and Peng Zhigui, vice governor, Shanxi Province. Representing MIT at the ceremony was J. David Litster, vice president for research and dean for graduate education. Undertaking this project was one of the recommendations resulting from a 1995 workshop in which more than a hundred technical and policy experts from China and the United States considered ways to support China's ninth five-year plan for the development of China's automotive industry.

The second annual review meeting of the University Research Consortium (URC) of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) was held on July 29-30 in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Investigators from 21 universities in 15 states described progress on each of the 42 research projects now being funded by the URC. The primary purpose of the meeting was to report and evaluate progress on each of the projects. In addition, the meeting permitted faculty, industry, and INEEL experts to meet in an informal setting, encouraging new collaborations for additional work that may further the missions and business objectives of INEEL. The two days were organized into 12 review sessions, each covering two to four projects on a common topic in one of the consortium's three focus areas: advanced systems engineering, nuclear engineering, and environmental and ecological engineering. Each session had an evaluation panel consisting of university faculty and INEEL technical staff knowledgeable in the subjects presented. The review sessions were planned and organized by MIT, and MIT faculty chaired most of the panels. More than 200 people attended the meeting.

The Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change held its first Special Regional Forum on Global Change in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 23-24. This forum, organized in collaboration with the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), and the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco), focused specifically on climate change issues and policy negotiations relevant to oil exporting countries. About 70 people attended, representing major international oil concerns, with the majority of participants drawn from the Arab States. Speakers from MIT, industry, and the Saudi government gave presentations focusing on the science of global change, possible economic and ecosystem effects of climate change, economic and trade impacts of control policies, the role of oil producers in the global climate change negotiations, and other topics.

The Energy Laboratory is a key player in a new strategic partnership between MIT and the University of Alaska that will promote the development of appropriate technology for application in remote and complex regions such as Alaska. A major goal is to develop technologies that will make possible smaller-scale forestry, mining, and other industries that will create jobs and develop resources in remote areas while having minimal impact on the environment. Initial projects identified include timber-based products that could be economically developed on a small scale, mini-mining using local energy sources, and energy product and utilities development technology suited to use on a small scale in various remote environments. Forestry provides a good example of the concept. In much of Alaska, forestry is not economical because shipping low-value logs and wood chips from remote areas is prohibitively expensive. But with an appropriate small-scale chemical reactor, local employees could convert small amounts of wood and fiber to high-value plastics or chemicals, which could then be shipped. Capital investment would be small, permitting such operations to compete on price with larger-scale manufacturers. Under the strategic partnership, faculty at MIT and the University of Alaska will collaborate in seeking research funding from the government and industry and in performing research projects, which will benefit students at both institutions. The program will be governed jointly by a coordinating committee made up of three representatives from each university. The MIT representatives are Thomas W. Eager, POSCO Professor of Materials Engineering and head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Jefferson W. Tester, H.P. Meissner Professor of Chemical Engineering and director of the Energy Laboratory; and Robert A. Brown, Warren K. Lewis Professor of Chemical Engineering and dean of the School of Engineering. Executive director of the program is Daniel I. Fine, research associate in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.