MIT partners with BP

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and BP PLC, the London-based oil company, announced a major research partnership today that will focus on energy conversion technologies.

The program will explore the conversion of low-value carbon feedstocks, such as petcoke and coal, to high-value products, such as electricity, liquid fuels, and chemicals, while minimizing carbon dioxide emissions, the two said.

In establishing this partnership, BP also becomes the inaugural founding member of the MIT Energy Initiative, which was created in 2006 to address global energy issues, MIT said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)