News and Blog Landing | MIT Sustainability

Seaside desalination plants like this typically discharge large volumes of concentrated brine back into the sea. MIT researchers have shown that instead, much of this waste could be turned into useful chemicals.

MIT News Office

February 13, 2019

Turning desalination waste into a useful resource

Process developed at MIT could turn concentrated brine into useful chemicals, making desalination more efficient.

For tropical growing regions in Brazil and some countries in Africa, differing soil and rock compositions make for a poor match for the fertilizers that are currently on the market. J-WAFS-funded MIT researchers seek to meet this challenge with ...

MIT News Office

February 12, 2019

Local rocks can yield more crops

J-WAFS-funded MIT research team shows a new method of fertilizer production can better suit the needs of farms in Africa and around the globe.

MIT News Office

February 8, 2019

From the Marines to MIT

Brent Minchew has flown presidents and foreign dignitaries on Marine One. Today he studies how ice sheets evolve and respond to changing climate.

A new MIT study finds that over the coming decades climate change will affect the ocean’s color, intensifying its blue regions and its green ones.Image: NASA Earth Observatory

MIT News Office

February 4, 2019

Study: Much of the surface ocean will shift in color by end of 21st century

Climate-driven changes in phytoplankton communities will intensify the blue and green regions of the world’s oceans.

Industrial pollution in Beijing, China Photo: Andy Enero/Flickr

MIT News Office

February 1, 2019

Study evaluates China’s progress in establishing accounting measures to reinforce its Paris pledge

Firms learn from experience in the measurement, reporting, and verification of carbon emissions under China’s emissions trading systems.

Judah CohenImage courtesy of Judah Cohen

MIT News Office

January 22, 2019

3Q: Judah Cohen on improving seasonal weather forecasting

Machine learning could help improve the accuracy of long-term forecasts, MIT climatologist argues.

Professor Reinhart (left) and architecture graduate student Hellen Rose Anyango Awino discuss a class assignment on measuring thermal comfort.Photo: Kelley Travers/MITEI

MIT News Office

January 16, 2019

Applying physics to energy-efficient building design

Christoph Reinhart is internationally known for using natural light to illuminate interiors and his lab's design tools are used by architects and urban planners worldwide.

A new doctoral field offering a computational specialty within MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences resonates with the Institute’s growing awareness of the advantages provided by education based in computer science an...

MIT News Office

January 9, 2019

MIT adds computational Earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences to its PhD offerings

New EAPS thesis field is the most recent to join the computational science and engineering doctoral program within the Center for Computational Engineering.

Associate Professor Asegun Henry is researching how to use superheated metals like molten tin to store heat from a concentrated solar power system, so it can be used to generate electricity as needed. Photo: Rob Felt/Georgia Tech

MIT News Office

January 7, 2019

Tackling greenhouse gases

Faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering are developing technologies that store, capture, convert, and minimize greenhouse gas emissions.