From a nuclear revival to qubits, the MIT Energy Initiative’s annual research conference tracked deployment of today’s technologies to discovery of tomorrow’s breakthroughs.
Leda Zimmerman|MIT Energy Initiative
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At the 2026 Energizing@MIT: MITEI’s Annual Research Conference, MITEI principal research scientist Deepjyoti Deka (left) presented his Seed Innovation Fund project on accelerating energy planning in the era of data centers through generative AI.
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Photo: Jake Belcher
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The conference included a panel on considering issues related to balancing data center development, such as energy supply and grids, with community acceptance. Panelists included (from left) Steve Clemmer of the Union of Concerned Scientists; Larry Susskind of the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning; and Kathryn Kline Tyndall of the Bipartisan Policy Center; as well as moderator Caitlin Mueller of the Department of Architecture.
Credits:
Photo: Jake Belcher
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Danna Freedman, director of Quantum@MIT and F. G. Keyes Professor of Chemistry, gave a keynote address on defining the future of quantum and how to use quantum tools to address a range of challenges, including those in energy.
Credits:
Photo: Jake Belcher
Utilizing waste carbon at scale, assessing public trust in artificial artificial intelligence and data centers, the challenge of the energy transition grows ever greater, requiring “researchers who can pursue fundamental questions about materials, chemistry, and energy systems … engineers who can design new technologies and determine how they might function at scale … and experts in economics, policy, human behavior, and sociology who can help us understand how those technologies will interact with communities and with the world around us,” said Hammond.
From keynote speakers to panelists, seed grant innovators to startup entrepreneurs, the conference featured exemplars in all these categories.
Deploying today’s technologies
Eric Toone, chief technical officer and managing partner at Breakthrough Energy, set the tone for day one with a keynote address that was clear-eyed in his assessment. “If energy is prosperity,” he told the audience, “at least today, prosperity is emissions.” Yet, Toone was optimistic when he heralded examples of Breakthrough Energy-funded ventures, from iron-air batteries to vacuum-insulated glass windows, which can reduce the carbon costs of energy.
“We can absolutely develop new technologies that provide the exact same service, but at zero carbon,” he said.
The conference made Toone’s claim tangible as it spanned the full arc of decarbonization — from deploying what we know today to uncovering what may be possible tomorrow.
There are “projects that are actually being developed, companies that are putting steel in the ground now, electrons onto the grid to deliver capacity now, or in the very, very near term,” said John Parsons, deputy director for research at the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. Parsons moderated a panel on the revival of nuclear fission power.
Highlights included Crane Clean Energy Center’s restoration of the Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear plant, set to restart in mid-2027; work by Électricité de France (EDF) to extend and modernize France’s 57-reactor nuclear fleet, adapting plants to climate impacts; and GE Vernova’s development of mature light-water reactor artificial intelligence can use more power than entire cities,” said Steve Clemmer, director of energy research in the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, sharing a recent analysis of data center proliferation. With new facilities being 10 to even 10,000 times larger than data centers built just a decade ago, he said, wholesale electricity costs will rise, and “increased reliance on fossil fuels will result in tens of billions of dollars in health damages, and trillions in climate damages.” He noted that decision-makers can mitigate these harmful impacts through clean energy development, strong ratepayer protections, and other safeguards.
Given mounting opposition to data centers, Kathryn Kline Tyndall, associate director of energy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, recommended that industry proponents provide early, accessible information about power, water, quality-of-life, land-use, environmental, and economic impacts, tailored to each community in which they hope to set up shop.
Larry Susskind, the Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning in the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, recommended that developers go further, and demonstrate credible benefits to communities. To achieve this, Susskind suggests a facilitated negotiation process between developers and local groups whose object is a community benefits agreement — a deal that might involve altering the data center design, and providing workforce development, infrastructure investment, and clean energy partnerships.
Ultimately, developers must accept that they can’t rush community acceptance; they have to earn it by giving residents a meaningful role in shaping projects and sharing their benefits.
“You’re going to have to proceed at the speed of trust,” said Susskind.
