Can data center flexibility save money and reduce emissions? MIT Climate Policy Center Newsletter, Sept. 2025

News from MIT's front door for climate policymakers

Dear Colleagues:

Here at MIT, the fall semester is getting underway. We’re happy to report that for the first time, all first-year students in the MIT Sloan School of Management MBA program took part in the En-ROADS climate solutions simulator workshop as part of their orientation week; about 250 MIT undergraduate students also participated. In other good news, En-ROADS, which is co-developed by Climate Interactive and MIT Sloan, and so far has been used by nearly 20,000 leaders around the globe, recently received another award – the third so far in 2025.

In this issue of our newsletter, we also invite you to learn a bit about MIT Climate Policy Center Faculty Director Christopher Knittel and his recent research—as well as about our Center’s mission and our four inaugural policy focal areas: improving the electric grid, climate and trade, transportation, and reducing building-related carbon emissions. If you’re a policymaker or member of the media who has an interest in one or more of these topics, please be in touch.

Sincerely,

Bethany Patten

Executive Director, MIT Climate Policy Center

Christopher Knittel’s research explores a range of energy-related topics–from data center emissions and electricity prices, to a potential replacement for the gas tax.

Learn about the four climate policy areas that the MIT Climate Policy Center is initially emphasizing: improving the electric grid, climate and trade, reducing building-related carbon emissions, and transportation.

The En-ROADS climate solutions simulator was recently recognized for excellence in applying system dynamics principles to a real-world problem.

How can policymakers access the extensive climate expertise and research at MIT? That’s where our Center comes in with a three-pronged strategy.

MIT Sloan’s Christopher Knittel says: "The potential grid crisis poised by data centers could become an opportunity — if only policymakers act swiftly to incentivize or require flexible data center operations."

Our Center was one of the organizers of an event hosted by the Technology Mechanism under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). MIT Professor Christoph Reinhart, a faculty affiliate of the Center, was one of the presenters.

MIT Sloan Professor John Sterman, a faculty affiliate of the Center, is quoted on the One Big Beautiful Bill’s effects on renewable energy development and consumer energy costs.

In this column for The Hill, MIT Sloan Professor Catherine Wolfram and three coauthors explore some of the implications of the European Union's plans to implement a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.