ETH Zürich News

ETH Zurich, one of the world’s most renowned universities, has just opened a unique research facility: the Zero Carbon Building Systems (ZCBS) Lab. It allows research into the behavior of building components and systems in different climate zones. The new building, located on the university campus in Zurich, comprises two floors with different test cells, climate chambers, and experimentation rooms. As part of its existing industrial partnership with ETH Zurich, Siemens has equipped the n...

With businesses around the world facing unprecedented pressure from the cost of energy and the urgency of climate change, a new report from the Energy Efficiency Movement shows that improving industrial energy efficiency is the fastest and most effective way for a business to cut energy costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Energy Efficiency Movement is a global forum of around 200 organizations sharing ideas, best practices and commitments to create a more energy-efficient world. &lsq...

CSCS develops and operates a high-performance computing (HPC) and data research infrastructure that supports world-class science in Switzerland, including research at CERN and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). High-performance computers and the simulations performed on them are indispensable for research where theory reaches its limits or experiments are impossible. Neither the universe nor the climate, for example, can be reproduced and observed in the laboratory. Simulations also support ex...

Until recently, it appeared that the transition to clean energy would come at a net economic cost, to a large extent because renewable energy systems, including their needs for energy storage, do and will continue to cost somewhat more to build and operate than fossil-based systems. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), for example, has projected that it would reduce economic growth by about 0.04% annually. To put this into perspective, someone earning CHF 100’000 would...

The 2022 Northern Hemisphere summer was one of the hottest ever recorded in Europe with over 24,000 heat-related fatalities, and brought intense heatwaves to parts of China and North America. It was also very dry, and the resulting drought caused widespread water shortages, wildfires and crop failures leading to higher food prices, as well as impacts on electricity supply. An international team of climate scientists led by the research group of Sonia Seneviratne, Professor for Land-​Climate Dyn...

ETH is part of the Enhance Alliance. ETH Rector Günther Dissertori signed a memorandum of understanding to that effect in Aachen at a meeting of the rectors. The Enhance Alliance aims to promote mobility among students and teaching staff by removing administrative hurdles and trying out new forms of mobility and cooperation. Member institutions to date include TU Berlin, Chalmers University of Technology, NTNU Trondheim, Politecnico di Milano, RWTH Aachen, Warsaw University of Technology...