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We can accelerate the process of moving climate solutions from laboratory to large-scale commercialization by bringing stakeholders together earlier in the process, writes William H. Green, new director of the MIT Energy Initiative.
I strongly believe we can stop climate change. We are already making great strides transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy; researchers at MIT and other universities are working hard every day to invent the future. Still, change is not happening fast enough. But by involving everyone in the solution, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in time to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
In many fields, inventions that challenge the status quo can be profitably commercialized by start-up companies, with modest investment. This happens all around us in the Boston area.
But stopping climate change is different. Success is not primarily measured by profits, but by how much and how quickly we reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Start-up companies – funded by millions of dollars — are essential for innovation but too small to achieve significant reductions. Huge levels of investment — hundreds of billions of dollars — by big companies are essential to achieve the gigantic scale necessary to solve this global problem. However, because new clean technologies have difficulty competing with well-established processes powered by cheap fossil fuels, big companies are reluctant to make major investments unless government policy support reduces the risk.
All are essential for a real climate solution: universities and start-ups for innovation, government for policy, big companies for massive scale.
With so many stakeholders, the process is slow. Consider electric vehicles (EVs). Rechargeable batteries with high energy density were invented in universities around 1980, then commercialized in the 1990s. By 2000 we knew that EVs based on these batteries could be a good climate solution—if they were affordable. In 2001, Norway provided a big tax benefit for EVs. In 2008, the U.S. Congress passed a law supporting low-emitting vehicle technologies. In 2009, when Tesla was still a small company, the U.S. government loaned it $465 million to build its first big factory, allowing Tesla to achieve consistent profitability ten years later. More recently, U.S. automakers have begun investing more than $170 billion in EV development and manufacturing, supported indirectly by provisions in the 2021 Infrastructure Act and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Overall, it took 45 years from invention to climate impact. We need to be faster.
We can accelerate the complicated process of moving climate solutions from laboratory to large-scale commercialization by bringing stakeholders together earlier in the process to discuss, develop, and fund solutions. As the new director of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), I am focused on convening researchers, economists, industry, non-profits, and government to reach consensus on practical approaches to decarbonize each sector of our economy as quickly as possible. That consensus reduces the risk, and so encourages the massive investments needed to stop climate change.
Each sector has challenges. For example, no one has invented rechargeable batteries with a high enough energy density for trans-oceanic shipping or long-haul trucks and airplanes. Research from my lab suggests that innovative ways of delivering clean hydrogen to the truck’s engine could enable affordable long-haul trucking with dramatically lower emissions. If the cost of clean hydrogen could be reduced, that new trucking system could beat diesel in the market, not just in the U.S., but worldwide, bringing us significantly closer to the global net-zero goal.
Recently, MITEI brought together researchers, business leaders, and government experts to discuss the possibility of obtaining cheap clean hydrogen from geologic sources. This symposium exemplified what I believe is our best chance at success in solving complex challenges—gathering all stakeholders, clarifying what remains unknown, considering both pros and cons, and building consensus around promising technologies and how to move them forward quickly.
To solve the climate problem, the entire global economy needs to change—not just transportation. We need to convene universities, industry, and government to address the challenges of every sector including construction, manufacturing, agriculture, and the electric grid. With support from business and government, we at MIT are searching for real climate solutions that the public will adopt, and that merit the huge investments necessary for wide deployment. By working collaboratively to solve these complex issues we will successfully address the greatest threat facing humanity today.
William H. Green is the Director of the MIT Energy Initiative and the Hoyt C. Hottel Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT.
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