technology for us to consider for any scenario that heavily relies on the grid. While future electricity loads from MIT employees’ charging their electric vehicles during the day will require extensive additional capacity, this component is ignored in this report since it focusses on scope 1 and 2 emissions. It should be noted, however, that the batteries of these EVs offer significant local storage potential for demand-side management if MIT were allowed to temporarily discharge them if and when needed. Lastly, thermal batteries are an emerging technology that may hold promise for campus decarbonization goals but need further evaluation. To implement a net zero reduction pathway for the MIT campus in a timely manner, we recommend that MIT takes the following measures immediately: 1. Form a Building Energy team that maintains standardized retrofit packages for different building types, manages a campus-wide retrofit plan until 2050, coordinates with individual project teams and verifies post-retrofit savings. To elevate the status of the group, it could be housed within Facilities, work with MITOS and a standing committee of faculty experts and report annual GHG emissions to senior leadership. 2. Understanding the ground below MIT is crucial for seasonal and deep geothermal applications; a comprehensive geological feasibility survey should be ordered immediately to support key planning decisions regarding shallow and deep borehole fields. 3. MIT should study the choice between hot/chilled water versus an ambient loop district system with an open mind. Experience from other university campuses shows that either option will be disruptive. Yet, bold and decisive near-term action is needed to reach our goal. 4. To prepare for the deployment of nuclear batteries or deep geothermal boreholes, MIT must communicate these pathways with Cambridge and state officials and socialize the ideas amongst the broader Cambridge and Boston population from an early stage. In addition, discussion with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must be started immediately to better assess the project feasibility. 5. To understand whether carbon capture is a valid option for MIT to rely on, potential sequestering application or sites within New England should be explored and future rights secured.
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