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Dear friends of MIT Energy Initiative,
I
would like to share with you an opinion piece appearing in today’s
Christian Science Monitor, in which I discuss the value of universities
and industry collaborating to address energy challenges generally, and
climate change specifically. As many of you may know, MIT released its
Plan for Action on Climate Change in October. Because a main component
of this plan involves engagement with industry on climate solutions, I
wanted to share MITEI’s perspectives on the mutual benefits we’ve found
come from these types of collaborations. The piece also previews our
Low-Carbon Energy Centers, currently under development.
Thank you for following our work at MITEI.
Regards,
Robert Armstrong
Director, MIT Energy Initiative
Director, MIT Energy Initiative
To
achieve the kind of environmentally sustainable future we will want our
grandchildren to inherit, we need everyone on board, Armstrong writes.
By Robert Armstrong, MIT Energy Initiative | November 9, 2015
Brian Snyder/Reuters
When
nations send negotiators to Paris in December for global climate talks
under the UN Framework on Climate Change, they have an enormous
opportunity — and imperative — to develop a strong international accord.
To achieve the dramatic global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions
that are necessary to avert the worst impacts of climate change, world
leaders will need to put the full force of policy and dedicated
resources behind their national commitments. They should also employ an
approach we at the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), MIT's
multidisciplinary energy research and education hub, believe is crucial:
engagement with industry on research and commercialization of
technologies vital to transforming today’s energy systems.
While
global energy demand is likely to double in the first half of this
century, every part of the world is already experiencing the impacts of
climate change, from sea level rise and drought to economic instability
and scarcity. Even if this year’s climate summit yields robust national
contributions towards tackling climate change, experts agree that we
will need to do more to prevent global temperatures from rising more
than 2 degrees C. Each of us and the businesses, organizations, and
institutions we belong to must bring our capacities and talents to bear.
When
our various constituencies work together to address climate change, the
potential benefits increase exponentially. For energy-intensive and
energy-producing companies, partnering with universities makes sense
because these businesses recognize that their futures lie in
lower-carbon practices and technologies. Partnering brings many benefits
to industry: access to cutting-edge research and policy expertise helps
companies plan for and mitigate risks within their businesses and
operations, and informs their internal R&D programs. Working with
university faculty and researchers, companies collaborate and compete to
be the first to develop solutions that speed energy system
transformations, which benefits their businesses as well as society.
Industry
support has enabled over a thousand MIT faculty, undergraduates,
graduate students, and postdocs to work on a broad spectrum of more than
800 energy research and analysis projects.
The
advantages for universities partnering with industry extend far beyond
the additional availability of funds for research or programs. Through
these partnerships, we not only benefit from industry resources and
insights into critical technology problems, we also leverage the
enormous talent base in the energy and related industries. Drawing on
industry knowledge of scaling energy technologies is especially
important, as scaling poses a major challenge that can impede a rapid
transition to the future low-carbon energy economy.
Many
organizations and institutions see the merit of collaborating with
industry to tackle climate change, such as Ceres, the national NGO
mobilizing business leaders to build a thriving, sustainable economy.
Another is the Boston Green Ribbon Commission, a Barr Foundation
initiative with the City of Boston to convene representatives from each
of the city’s leading economic sectors to develop shared strategies for
fighting climate change (MIT is a member). In addition to helping
individual businesses enact climate strategies, institution-industry
coalitions can provide added value by convening businesses that are
otherwise competitors to work towards a shared goal.
Making
climate change a common cause also signals to policymakers and the
public that industry recognizes the threats posed by a warming planet
and rising seas, and is serious about contributing to solutions. For
industry advocacy to be meaningful, however, companies must take
concrete actions and invest in a lower-carbon energy future, as in the
examples above — making their memberships in consortia count for more
than lip-service on climate action.
That
is why at MITEI, our industry members make contributions that directly
fund necessary research into renewable and energy-efficient
technologies. Industry support has enabled over a thousand MIT faculty,
undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs to work on a broad
spectrum of more than 800 energy research and analysis projects. Most of
these are in low- or no-carbon areas including solar, energy storage,
and advanced biofuels, to name a few. Additional projects focus on
increasing the efficiency of conventional energy technologies,
modernizing electric distribution here in the U.S. and in the developing
world, and advancing new energy modeling methods.
To achieve the kind of sustainable future we will want our grandchildren to inherit, we need everyone on board.
In October, MIT launched its Plan for Action on Climate Change,
the Institute’s multifaceted response to the urgent global priorities
of significantly reducing carbon emissions while sustainably meeting
growing energy needs.
A
central element of the plan is a redoubled commitment to engaging with
industry to foster low-carbon energy research — a strategy MITEI has
embodied since its founding in 2006, guided by then-Institute President
Susan Hockfield and led by my former colleague professor Ernest Moniz,
now U.S. Secretary of Energy. As described in the plan, MITEI is
developing interdisciplinary Low-Carbon Energy Centers advance
technology in key areas. The first five centers will focus on solar
power; energy storage; carbon capture, use, and sequestration; advanced
materials; and nuclear. These centers will be supported by industry
consortia, with members ranging in size from start-ups to
multinationals. Our shared objective is to put the global energy system
on a path to rapid decarbonization within a generation.
The
people involved in this energy research are among the vanguard who will
help achieve our global low-carbon energy transition. MIT’s energy
partnerships with industry have led faculty and graduates to join — or
launch — clean energy companies, research laboratories, and
sustainability-focused NGOs. Spin-offs since MITEI’s inception include
solar company 1366 Technologies, solar potential mapping company
Mapdwell, building energy efficiency company Essess, and energy storage
companies Ambri, 24M, and FastCAP Systems.
MIT
President Rafael Reif recognizes the importance of bringing industry
stakeholders to the table. As the MIT climate plan states, “Combatting
climate change will require intense collaboration across the research
community, industry and government.” To achieve the kind of
environmentally sustainable future we will want our grandchildren to
inherit, we need everyone on board.
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