Modelling and assessing energy and climate strategies for Switzerland
A special issue on modelling climate policy in Switzerland has been published in the Swiss Journal of Economics and…
The minimal realization of electronic synchronous machines
With the recent changes in energy-production and with the extensive penetration of renewables into distribution…
Scenarios for a low-CO2 Swiss energy system
The Joint Activity Scenarios & Modelling (JASM) bundles the knowledge of all eight Swiss Competence Centers for Energy…
Bounded rationality in attitudes towards replacement of inefficient appliances: Evidence from Nepal
Bounded rationality is an important behavioral failure responsible for the energy-efficiency gap, whereby consumers…
Systematic environmental assessment of global power generation
Reliable and affordable energy supply is the backbone of today's societies. It comes at a cost, though: Emissions into…
99% Efficient Isolated Three-Phase PFC Rectifier
Data centers, which are key elements of the worldwide information processing and communication infrastructure are…
Impact of Human Behaviour on Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
Within the context of different energy transition pathways for the city of St. Gallen, Switzerland, the Laboratory for…
Highly Efficient 10kV SiC-Based Solid-State Transformers
The increasing number of high-power DC applications such as data centers or electric vehicle charging facilities demand…
Smart Monitoring, Inspection and Life-Cycle Assessment of Wind Turbines
Within an ERC starting grant award on the topic of “Smart Monitoring, Inspection and Life-Cycle Assessment of Wind…
Design Optimization of Desanding Facilities for Hydropower Schemes
Hydro-abrasive turbine wear caused by sediments in the water has negative effects on hydroelectric power generation.…
NEST HiLo: thermal activation of a lightweight structural floor element
A/S Research Group develops a thermally active building system for a vaulted floor element that allows to harness…
Exploring the need for natural gas in the Swiss power system
Many future electricity scenarios, including those developed for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), use natural…
Progress Towards Designed Membranes For All-Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries
Grid-scale storage of electricity is vital in energy scenarios with a high share of renewable electricity generation,…
Capturing usage patterns of a comprehensive Mobility-as-a-Service offer with GPS-tracking – First results from the SBB Green Class project
In 2017, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) launched the SBB Green Class[1] project, a one-year pilot study in…
Enhanced Fretting Fatigue Resistance of Conductors for High Voltage Overhead Lines (CONFAT)
While overhead-line electricity transmission grids are generally well established in Europe, and there is not a big…
Hydro-abrasive erosion in Pelton turbines: monitoring, prediction and mitigation
Hydraulic turbines are eroded by sediment-laden high-speed flow. Turbine erosion has negative effects on the cost of…
From Location Tracking to Personalized Eco-Feedback: Results from the GoEco! Study
Todays modern smartphones are not only widely used, but also often equipped with GPS receivers and other sensors to…
Measuring energy policy mixes’ content
Public policy plays an important role in incentivizing a transition of the energy sector towards technologies with low…
Narrowing the energy efficiency gap: The impact of educational programs, online support tools and energy-related investment literacy
A higher adoption rate of energy-efficient appliances is expected to contribute towards improvement in energy…
Alternative synthetic perspectives for CO2 hydrogenation towards liquid chemical energy carriers
Synthetic liquid fuels are ideal vectors for the distribution and storage of sustainable energy, allowing the…
Experiments and modelling of rate-dependent transition delay in a stochastic subcritical bifurcation
A recent publication of the CAPS laboratory studies the complex dynamics of a lab-scale combustor subject to…
Surveying the ice volume of glaciers – a shrinking resource for hydropower exploitation – with helicopter-borne ground penetrating radar
Melt water from glaciers makes a significant contribution to the overall discharge of Swiss rivers, especially during…
Coordination and Optimization of Run-of-River Hydropower Plants
Run-of-river hydropower plants can supply much needed flexibility to the power system. As wind turbines and solar…
Electrical Insulation Challenges in Future Smart Grids: Power Electronics Meets High-Voltage Technology
Traditionally, most high-voltage insulation systems in electrical power transmission applications are stressed with DC…
Nudging the Poor and the Rich – A Field Study on the Distributional Effects of Green Electricity Defaults
Choice defaults have become an increasingly popular and seemingly inexpensive public policy tool. Yet, there is scant…
Optimal control of HVDC links for enhancing power system stability
The property of an AC power network to return to a stable equilibrium point and synchronism after a disturbance is…
Ultra-compact and highly efficient battery interface for traction applications
Approximately one-third of the worldwide primary energy is consumed in the transport sector. In order to reduce the…
Split battery energy storage: more than the just the sum of its parts
What if we told you, that splitting a 5 mega-watt-hour battery energy storage system into 24 smaller blocks, each large…
Energy Efficiency of an Electrodynamically Levitated Hyperloop Pod
The team Swissloop, formed by 40 ETH students, achieved the remarkable 3rd place in 2017-finals of the SpaceX Hyperloop…
Strategic Questions in the Oil Market
The Center for Security Studies (CSS) has just published a CSS Policy Analysis on the political and security effects of…
Optimal Renewables Portfolio to Achieve 45% Renewable Electricity in Central Europe by 2030
Unlike the EU’s 2020 energy strategy, in its 2030 energy strategy, the EU seeks to achieve a target of 45%…
A New Player in Grid-Level Stationary Energy Storage – Efficient and Low Cost Aluminum Chloride-Natural Graphite Battery
A new rechargeable aluminum chloride-graphite battery was designed using processed natural graphite flakes in its…
Modelling the System Adequacy of the Swiss Electricity Supply
The Research Centre for Energy Networks (ETH Zurich) in collaboration with the Research Center for Sustainable Energy…
Forecasting Local Consumption Patterns Based on Smart Meter Data and Neural Networks
The roll-out of Smart Meters in electric distribution grids allows grid operators to attain grid transparency, i.e.…
Energy Harvesting for Next Generation Freight Trains
Remote sensors and actuators are gaining in importance for the Internet of Things (IoT) and energy harvesting could…
Potential for future hydropower plants (HPPs) in Switzerland
Climate change leads to glacier retreat in the Swiss Alps. New potential locations for HPP reservoirs become ice-free,…
Autonomous Decision Trees for Real-Time Monitoring and Diagnostics of Wind Turbines
Owners, operators and manufacturers of wind turbines (WTs) spend significant resources on discovering root causes of…
Safe operations of interdependent gas and electric systems
Gas and electric networks are characterized by strong interdependencies, which occur at the level of gas-fired power…
The Internet of things – An example of optimized transportation for transporting beverage consumables
Applications of Internet of Things are wide, from home automation to industrial operations. An Industrial Internet of…
Bioethanol from wood – The solution for a sustainable fuel supply in Switzerland?
Second generation bioethanol made from lignocellulosic biomass, like e.g. wood, offers great opportunities for a…
Optimal Integration of Distributed Battery Storage in Low Voltage Grids
Distributed Battery Storage (DBS) in Low Voltage (LV) grids is an attractive solution for house owners to increase…
What electricity future do informed Swiss citizens prefer?
On May 21, 2017, Swiss citizens voted for the implementation of the Energy Strategy 2050 and thus broadly approved the…
The City Energy Analyst (CEA): An Open Source Toolbox for the Analysis of Urban Energy Systems
At Singapore-ETH Centre’s Future Cities Laboratory the Chair of Architecture and Building Systems conducts research on…
Next Generation Catalysts for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells
Electric vehicles powered by hydrogen polymer electrolyte fuel cells are one option to move towards a low emission…
Electricity storage through air compression in the Swiss Alps
Electricity is increasingly generated from renewable sources like solar and wind. Because these sources are not…
Avoiding Fatigue Cracks in High Temperature Power Plants Components
The extension of pre-existing or in-service generated defects by fatigue can be avoided in high temperature power plant…
Ninjas serve open data, enabling new insights for the energy transition
The world’s electricity systems are rapidly evolving with the deployment of weather-dependent solar photovoltaic (PV)…
Water quality changes by hydropower reservoirs
Today, half of the global runoff is passing through reservoirs and this fraction is increasing. A new project addresses…
Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies through policy combinations
Fossil fuel subsidies have major economic and environmental downsides. ETH Zurich’s Energy Politics Group (EPG) aims at…
3D GIS for planning electric power systems
Europe’s energy suppliers need to expand or renew their grid to provide decentralized energy supply and to fulfill…
Simulating Complex Turbulent Combustion in Novel Gas Turbine Combustors
A research project focusing on sequential combustion technologies for gas turbine applications is conducted at the CAPS…
Unlocking the Geothermal Energy Hidden Inside the Earth: Seismic Properties as a Function of Reservoir Conditions
In contrast to other renewable energy resources, geothermal reservoirs are hidden at several kilometers depth beneath…
Evaluating Reserves Performance for Aiding Renewable Electricity Integration
The goal of this work is to compare the costs and performance metrics of various reserve dimensioning methods and…
Optimizing the Chilled Ammonia Process for CO2 Capture
The Chilled Ammonia Process (CAP) is a CO2 capture technology that enables drastic emission reductions from power…
Modelling Solutions for a More Energy Efficient Future of Buildings
To realize the goals of the Swiss Energy Strategy 2050, buildings have to become more energy efficient and the share of…
Higher Price, Lower Costs? Introducing Minimum Carbon Prices in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
While emissions trading systems (ETS) have become centerpieces of market-based environmental regulation in many…
Humans in the Loop: A Joint Approach for Technical Optimization and Behavioral Participation for Building Energy Efficiency
Efficient building energy management has attracted a great interest due to significant potential energy savings. One…
Estimating the Savings Potential of Smart Household Thermostats
Heating is the main contributor to energy consumption in households. However, many heating systems still run on fixed…
IT-Enabled Behavior Change at the Water-Energy Nexus
Traditional approaches to foster resource conservation include efficiency (infrastructure) upgrades, price increases,…
Protecting Consumer Privacy in the Age of the Smart Meter
The advent of the smart meter in electricity grids opens the door to new grid management opportunities. However,…
Sustainable Waste and Secondary Resource Management to Support the Energy Turnaround (wastEturn)
wastEturn aims to optimise the contribution of Swiss waste management to the “Energy Turnaround”, that is, the shift…
Radical innovation for low energy concrete structures
“Low Energy Concrete”, a project supported by SNF, has been set-up to look into the improvement potential of building…
Temperature Dependent Capacity Utilization for Enhanced Reliability of Overhead-lines
The TeKaF project (German acronym for temperature dependent capacity utilization for overhead-lines) aims to increase…
How efficient are Swiss households?
Energy efficiency is one of the pillars of the ’Energy Strategy 2050’ and therefore an important issue next to new…
Integrated Energy Systems Modelling Platform (Nexus)
The objective of this project is to develop an integrated modelling platform for assessing energy systems that cuts…
Integration of RES in the Swiss distribution grid
The ISCHESS project studies the optimal transformation of the Swiss energy supply towards a more sustainable system…
Electrical Energy Storage in Private Households – A Curse or a Blessing?
Storing electrical energy in private households becomes increasingly popular. If many households still demand…
Cost Benefit Analysis of Smart Grids
This project focuses on fundamental, cross-cutting issues that will provide a better understanding of Smart Grid…
Die Zukunft der Energiespeicher: Trends und offene Fragen
Speicherung hat schon immer eine wichtige Rolle im Energieversorgungssystem gespielt. Während die Speicherung fossiler…
Energy in Global Security Policies
Low oil prices, changes in natural gas market structures and a whole set of new suppliers: Global energy markets have…
The Hybrid Transformer – Towards a Smarter Grid
Approximately one-third of the worldwide primary energy is consumed in the transport sector. In order to reduce the…
Smart All-SiC Solid-State Transformers
Future applications such as high-speed trains or medium-voltage DC collecting grids for wind parks require a galvanic…
Plug and Play Load Control for a Sustainable Distribution Grid
Demand-side management will play a key role for improving reliability and efficiency in an increasingly complex grid,…
Wind-Farm-Scale Measurements Using Mobile-Based LiDAR
45% of electricity generated from renewables by 2030 is targeted in Europe. As wind-generated electricity will be a…
Price of Power System Stability
Control reserves are power generation or consumption entities that ensure balance of supply and demand of electricity…
Large-Scale Simulation of Cloud Cavitation Collapse
Reduction in CO2 emission of internal combustion engines is of paramount importance. Efficient combustion requires…
Deep large-scale underground experiments for the development of Deep Geothermal Energy
Deep Geothermal Energy is a fundamental component of the Energy Strategy 2050 of Switzerland – expected to produce at…
The risk of cascading failures in power systems
Economic activities strongly depend on critical energy infrastructures, e.g. the electric power system. Failures in the…
WINDMIL – Smart Monitoring, Inspection and Life-Cycle Assessment of Wind Turbines
ERC Starting Grant project WINDMIL aims to establish a smart framework for life-cycle assessment of Wind Turbines…
Energy System Integration Platform goes into operation
Until the year 2050, the Swiss energy system is set to be restructured. The integration of electricity from…
The hydraulics of low-level outlet structures of large dams
Bottom outlets are a key safety device of dams with the purpose of discharging water in a timely and quantitatively…
Limiting climate change to 2°C requires zero CO2 emissions by the end of the century
In December 2015, the world’s governments have decided to limit global warming to well below 2°C relative to about…
Defaults in Green Electricity Markets – Preference Match not Guaranteed
Defaults, nudging you into a specific behavior if no active choice is taken, are popular in various fields like for…
Potential of biogenic combined heat and power generation in Switzerland: Project CHPswarm for power-on-demand
Project CHPswarm investigated the role, Combined Heat and Power (CHP) may play in the future Swiss energy system…
Hydroabrasion-resistant materials at sediment bypass tunnels and hydraulic structures
Sediment bypass tunnels (SBT) are subjected to severe invert abrasion due to high flow velocities and sediment…
Spallation drilling – a technology to boost the geothermal energy supply of Switzerland
In order to promote the development of geothermal energy production from deep resources, cost effective solutions to…
Redox flow power delivery and cooling (REPCOOL)
The research of the Laboratory of Thermodynamics in Emerging Technolgies (LTNT) into redox flow electrochemistry for…
Quantifying the emissions and environmental impacts from thermoelectric power plants globally
The impacts on ecosystem quality and human health caused by the thermoelectric power sector are numerous, bearing on…
3for2 Beyond Efficiency – a new holistic design concept for tall office buildings in hot and humid climate zones
At Singapore-ETH Centre’s Future Cities Laboratory the Chair of Architecture and Building Systems conducts research on…
Derisking Energy Access
Approximately 1.1 billion people lack access to electricity in developing countries. Innovation and related cost…
Enhanced Fretting Fatigue Resistance of Conductors for High Voltage Overhead Lines (CONFAT)
While overhead-line electricity transmission grids are generally well established in Europe, and there is not a big…
Advanced Power Semiconductor Laboratory (APS)
The Advanced Power Semiconductor (APS) Laboratory at the Department of Information Technology and Electrical…
DESERTECTION project
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is home to the world’s largest petroleum reserves, and also its widest…
Energy Storage in Chemicals
Electrical power produced by renewable energies can be chemically stored as hydrogen and other fuels via electrolysis.…
Swiss electricity transition and the changing risks to human health, safety, natural and built environment (RIGOROuS project)
Switzerland has decided to phase out nuclear power to reduce the residual risk of nuclear accidents. What are the risks…
The Impact of Energy Labels on Purchases of Household Appliances
Energy-efficient appliances often seem to be overlooked by households although they offer net monetary savings.…
Tomorrow’s Sequential Combustion Technologies for Low Emissions and High Fuel Flexibility
A challenging research project conducted at the CAPS laboratory aims at addressing the problem of combustion…
Catalytic processes for carbon dioxide and natural gas valorization
The ultimate goal of this research is to upgrade abundant carbon dioxide and natural gas resources, connected with the…
GoEco! – Nudging People to Travel Sustainably
«How can I travel more sustainably?» - The GoEco! project of SUPSI and ETH Zurich tries to answer this, a question that…
Polishing the lens for sharp images of the subsurface – Improving seismic exploration of natural resources
The adverse impact of the near-surface zone on seismic data is one of the long-standing problems in seismic exploration…
Post-Lithium-ion battery, a new generation of an energy storage system
The primary goal of this project is to explore promise and challenge of a new type of a high-energy-density…
Assessing Future Energy Markets (AFEM)
The project objective is to identify and evaluate the performance of alternative designs for future electricity…
Integration of sustainable Multi-Energy-hub Systems at neighbourhood scale (IMES)
This project will develop and provide a comprehensive simulation approach for decentralized power production, which…
Integration of stochastic renewables in the Swiss electricity supply system (ISCHESS)
This project studies the optimal transformation of the current Swiss energy supply towards a more sustainable system…
CO2 Capture from Cement Plants (CEMCAP)
The primary objective of this project is to prepare the ground for large-scale implementation of CO2 capture in the…
Promotion or steering-based energy policy (ProSTEP)
The ProSTEP project assesses and compares promotion- and steering-based regulatory instruments as envisaged in the…
Synergistic Energy and Comfort through Urban Resource Effectiveness (SECURE)
The design and renovation of new districts calls for new methods and tools that allow more effective use of the…
Optimal Energy Management of Buildings and Districts
Active building energy management is facing significant new challenges by the increased penetration of renewable…
The Challenge Posed by Renewables – How Much Power Electronics Can the Grid Cope with?
Kick-off for MIGRATE: International project investigates requirements for Europe's future electricity grid.
Optimizing Environmental Flow Releases under Future Hydropower Operation (HydroEnv)
HydroEnv focuses on monitoring, modelling and optimizing environmental flow releases under future hydropower operation…
Hybrid HVAC/ HVDC Overhead Lines
This research project investigates the idea of converting existing multi-circuit AC transmission towers to hybrid AC/DC…
Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Surface Enhanced NMR Spectroscopy
Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Surface Enhanced NMR spectroscopy (DNP SENS) is developed as a powerful tool to…
Deep Geothermal Energy: the St. Gallen project
A case study on the communication of risks and benefits, taking a “sender and receiver” model as framework.