Webinar: "Renewable-Powered Catalysis with Noble Metal Nanoparticles"
Professor. Michael B. Ross, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) - June 2, 2026
Nanostructured metals exhibit remarkable chemical, physical, and optical properties distinct from their bulk counterparts. They efficiently absorb visible and infrared light, can be synthetically manipulated to reveal complex surface morphologies, and are stable under harsh chemical conditions. The diversity of these properties makes nanostructured metals desirable building blocks for creating materials that impact challenges in energy, human health, and photonics. Inspired by these striking and tunable properties, our work focuses on bridging the development of design principles with the realization of devices using noble metal nanoparticles. In the area of energy, Professor Ross will describe how nanostructured metals can use electrical energy to recycle carbon dioxide (CO2) into fuels and chemicals and will highlight emerging efforts that demonstrate how one can use both photo- and electrical-excitation to drive chemical reactions.
Watch the recording: "Renewable-Powered Catalysis with Noble Metal Nanoparticles"
Boston Climate Week's ClimaTech Exposition
May 4-5, 2026
The Center for Energy Innovation (CEI) hosted a booth at the ClimaTech Innovation Exposition with live demonstrations of cutting-edge drone and infrared structural health monitoring technology.
WindSTAR Webinar: "A New Coating for Reducing Wind Turbine Blade Lightning Damage"
Neal Fine & Arctura, Inc. - April 29, 2026
Lightning is the leading cause of wind turbine blade damage worldwide, driving hundreds of millions of dollars in annual repair costs despite the widespread use of conventional lightning protection systems. This webinar introduces ALP20, a novel, roll-on blade coating designed to significantly reduce lightning-induced punctures by helping existing receptors more reliably intercept strikes. Results from more than 150 laboratory lightning attachment tests demonstrate a 73% reduction in puncture damage compared to standard topcoats. By combining laboratory results with measured field attachment angle distributions, the coating is predicted to reduce real-world lightning damage rates from 6.4% to 1.7%. The webinar will review the underlying physics, test methodology, validation results, and early field experience, and will discuss how this practical, commercially available coating can materially improve blade reliability without redesigning existing lightning protection systems.
Watch the recording: "A New Coating for Reducing Wind Turbine Blade Lightning Damage"
Webinar: "Decarbonizing the Grid: A Roadmap for Advanced Nuclear and Fusion Energy"
Professor Sukesh Aghara, Ph.D. - January 28, 2026
Deep decarbonization will require reliable, carbon-free energy that complements the growth of renewables. Advanced nuclear technologies—particularly Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs)—offer enhanced safety features, flexible operations, and new economic models compared to today’s large light-water reactors. Examples such as X-energy’s Xe-100, TerraPower’s Natrium, and Oklo’s microreactor illustrate the diversity of designs emerging across the sector.
This presentation introduces the Massachusetts Advanced Nuclear and Fusion Energy Roadmap and highlights the technical readiness, safety attributes, and system-integration potential of next-generation reactors. Discussion will cover passive safety, modular construction approaches, load-following capabilities for renewable-rich grids, and options for industrial heat and hydrogen production.
Drawing on current analyses from the Massachusetts Roadmap, the talk will outline deployment pathways for SMR/AMR technologies in the Commonwealth—focusing on cost considerations, siting opportunities, workforce needs, and regional innovation. The session will situate advanced nuclear within broader energy-system economics and explore how these technologies can support reliability, affordability, and long-term sustainability in a decarbonized energy landscape.
Watch the recording: "Decarbonizing the Grid: A Roadmap for Advanced Nuclear and Fusion Energy"
Rist Institute Collaboration and Research Showcase
November 5, 2025
The Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy hosted external and internal partners to showcase our labs, facilities, and ongoing partnerships as a model for what's possible when public-private partnerships are cultivated to innovate together. After facilities tours and a cocktail reception, guests attended keynote presentations from Jonathan Schrag, the Massachusetts Deputy Climate Chief & Director of Investment for Decarbonization & Resilience, and from Laney Brown, the Vice President of Sustainability at Avangrid, Inc.
ClimateTech Career Fair
September 11, 2025, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
Energy engineering students and recent graduates are invited to attend Greentown Labs' Career Fair to meet member companies who are hiring!
MassCEC's ClimaTech Exposition
June 4, 2024
The Center for Energy Innovation (CEI) hosted a booth at the ClimaTech Innovation Exposition with live demonstrations of cutting-edge drone and infrared structural health monitoring technology.
CEI In-Person Seminar: "Energy in Africa - Equity in a Just Transition"
Richard O. Agjei, Ph.D. - April 9, 2024
Access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa has improved tremendously over the last decade, with significant growth in access. However, while energy consumption has increased, it has not increased equitably. This talk will address the fundamentals of energy in Africa, identifying opportunities and discussing the impacts of shifting collective focus to energy security at the expense of equity. Richard Agjei will discuss why energy equity has stalled around the world after a challenging four years, and the need for a faster and more inclusive transition to deliver a sustainable, secure and fair energy future apart from the ‘New Solution to Power Africa: Productive Use of Renewable Energy.’ This talk will include a discussion with individuals with field-specific expertise and international experience that have much to contribute to this important subject.
Watch the recording: "Energy In Africa - Equity in a Just Transition"
WindSTAR Webinar - Evolving to Support a Low-Carbon Transformation
Brandon Fitchett, EPRI: Tuesday, October 10, 11 a.m.
Companies, countries, and whole continents are committing to various versions of zero carbon or net-zero Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050. Brandon Fitchett of Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will present some hypothetical electricity and power system transformational scenarios with stages at 2030, 2040, and 2050 that could lead to such targets. In all cases, wind and solar expand drastically. In many cases, hydrogen, storage, and nuclear also play a role in the longer-term. Renewables plants, specifically, will need to be built more productive, more reliable, and more flexible than ever before. EPRI will present some renewables research challenges and technology directions needed to support the future power system.
Center for Energy Innovation Launch Celebration (Lab Tours and Cocktail Reception)
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
The facilities tour included laboratories demonstrating cutting-edge research related to solar and wind energy, hydrogen, combustion, fuel synthesis, energy storage, plasma technology, structural health monitoring, buildings efficiency, and our active, 1MW nuclear research reactor. Following the tours and a networking cocktail reception, guests heard from Rebecca Tepper, Secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and Anne Maglia, UMass Lowell's Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation.
Webinar: "Power Outages and Social Vulnerability"
Professor Christine Crago, Ph.D.: May 11, 2023
A reliable electric power supply is essential to the functioning of modern society. Power outages impose a significant annual to municipalities, businesses, and individual households, and climate change-induced severe weather is expected to further increase this cost in the future. Despite the significant impact of power outages, there are research gaps pertaining to identifying national power disruption trends and identifying those most affected. In her group’s research, Professor Crago examines the distribution of power outages in the United States. Using the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI), they examine temporal and spatial trends for the years 2017-2020 at the county level. They also examine the relative severity of power outage experiences for environmental justice communities, identified based on the criteria of poverty, English language limitations, and demographic racial minority status. In this talk, Professor Crago will discuss their results, which underscore the need for equity in power system reliability.
Watch the recording: "Power Outages and Social Vulnerability"
Webinar: "Liquid-Phase Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Fuels and Chemicals"
Professor Thomas J. Schwartz: April 11, 2023
The prevalence of “light” (C1-C3) hydrocarbons obtained from shale gas requires us to find alternative sources of larger molecules suitable for producing commodity and specialty chemicals. Biomass is an attractive option because of its 5- and 6-carbon sugar content, and it natively contains the oxygen needed high-value chemicals. However, selective de-functionalization of biomass is a key challenge for producing bio-based chemicals. For many cases, this can be accomplished by hydrogenolysis, where C-O bonds are broken by addition of H2. While many catalysts are active for this reaction, they are not always selective. Here, we discuss the influence of water on the catalytic reaction of Ru/TiO2, which is selective for C-O hydogenolysis (in the presence of aromatic rings) to produce toluene, benzene, etc. from phenols. This is important to consider when upgrading biomass, which contains around 50% water after harvest). We also show that the same catalyst, used under milder conditions, can be used for selective hydrogenolysis of substituted tetrahydrofuroic acids, which allows us to produce biorenewable thermoplastics.
Watch the recording: "Liquid-Phase Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Fuels and Chemicals"
Watch the CEI Webinar: "Making Waste Work For Us"
Professor Michael Timko: March 17, 2023
Waste is the natural byproduct of our extractive economy, and its accumulation, including everything from atmospheric gases to water pollutants, threatens our ecosystems and increasingly our health. However, some waste streams have value, provided that we can achieve valorization and prevent inequitable exposure to waste and pollution in disadvantaged communities. Professor Timko's research works to develop new ways to convert waste to valuable energy, fuels, chemicals, and materials; in this talk, he will invite our audience to follow along with the journey from basic chemistry to environmental and economic benefit for food waste streams. Beginning with a fundamental understanding of food waste chemistry, they developed sequential generations of technologies for converting it into a renewable fuel, with each iteration showing improvement on those previous and providing a deeper understanding of the complex chemical pathways for waste conversion.
Watch the recording: "Making Waste Work For Us"
Webinar: "Meeting our decarbonization goals: What's needed beyond good engineering?"
Jacqueline Ashmore, Ph.D.: November 2, 2022
Successful decarbonization relies on widespread electrification, increased energy efficiency, and sourcing electricity from clean energy. This presentation will focus on developing clean energy resources, with a particular emphasis on large scale solar power and energy storage. It will cover the increased support for the development of clean energy that is unleashing capital and generating stronger policy drivers for clean energy projects across the country. It will also examine the obstacles that remain including questions about land use, challenges with interconnection, and uncertainty about accessing incentives. A central theme is that engineering, policy, and financing are all important in accelerating the adoption of clean energy.
