Separating molecules is critical to producing many essential products. For example, in petroleum refining, the hydrocarbons ' chemical compounds composed of hydrogens and carbons ' in crude oil are separated into gasoline, diesel and lubricants by sorting them based on their molecular size, shape and weight. In the pharmaceutical industry, the active ingredients in medications are purified by separating drug molecules from the enzymes, solutions and other components used to make them. These separation processes take a substantial amount of energy, accounting for roughly half of U.S. industrial energy use. Traditionally, molecular separations have relied on methods that require intensive heating and cooling that make them very energy inefficient. We are chemical and biological engineers. In our newly published research, we designed a new type of membrane with nanopores that can quickly and precisely separate a diverse range of molecules under harsh industrial conditions. Membranes are physical barriers that can separate molecules in a mixture like a sieve based on their size or affinity ' such as charge or polarity ' to the membrane material. For example, your cells are surrounded by a membrane that transports nutrients into it and transports toxins out of it. Membrane technology include synthetic barriers that can separate molecules in industrially important mixtures at a lower energy cost than traditional methods....
On April 11, 2022, MIT announced five multiyear flagship projects in the first-ever Climate Grand Challenges, a new initiative to tackle complex climate problems and deliver breakthrough solutions to the world as quickly as possible. This is the second article in a five-part series highlighting the most promising concepts to emerge from the competition, and the interdisciplinary research teams behind them. One of the biggest leaps that humankind could take to drastically lower greenhouse gas emissions globally would be the complete decarbonization of industry. But without finding low-cost, environmentally friendly substitutes for industrial materials, the traditional production of steel, cement, ammonia, and ethylene will continue pumping out billions of tons of carbon annually; these sectors alone are responsible for at least one third of society's global greenhouse gas emissions. A major problem is that industrial manufacturers, whose success depends on reliable, cost-efficient, and large-scale production methods, are too heavily invested in processes that have historically been powered by fossil fuels to quickly switch to new alternatives. It's a machine that kicked on more than 100 years ago, and which MIT electrochemical engineer Yet-Ming Chiang says we can't shut off without major disruptions to the world's massive supply chain of these materials. What's needed, Chiang says, is a broader, collaborative clean energy effort that takes 'targeted fundamental research, all the way through to pilot demonstrations that greatly lowers the risk for adoption of new technology by industry.'...
Organizations need to develop more-robust processes to ensure responsible use of AI....
How can the world cut its greenhouse gas emissions in time to avert the most catastrophic impacts of global climate change? It wonât be easy, but there are reasons to be optimistic that the problems can still be solved if the right kind of significant actions are taken within the next few years, according to panelists at the latest MIT symposium on climate change.
The symposium, the fourth in a series of six this academic year, was titled âEconomy-wide deep decarbonization: Beyond electricity.â Symposium co-chair Ernest Moniz explained in his introductory remarks that while most efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions tend to focus on electricity generation, which produces 28 percent of the total emissions, â72 percent of the emissions we need to address are outside the electricity sector.â These sectors include transportation, which produces 29 percent; industry, which accounts for 22 percent; commercial and residential buildings, at 12 percent; and agriculture, at 9 percent; according to 2017 figures....
