Public Energy Research in Switzerland

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Public Energy Researchin Switzerland


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Summary

Editorial 2

Interview with Tony Kaiser, president o the CORE 3

Publicly unded energy research: a contribution to sustainable development 5

Rational Energy Use

Thinking o everything when designing processes 9Buildings: Energy consumption: down Comort: up! 10

Vehicles should become more ef cient, lighter and more intelligent 12

Accumulators: improved storage through accumulation 13

Electricity: more ef ciency and innovative technologies 14

The Electrical Grid: Flexible, dependable and economical 15

Production o heat and power go together 16

Combustion: In search o optimised combustion processes 18

Power Plant: Improved large plants are in demand 19

Fuel Cells: Swiss developments or a European key technology 20

Renewable Energy Sources

Increasing the use o solar heat 21

Photovoltaic energy enters the industrial phase 22

High Temperature Solar Energy 24

Hydrogen: With a vision underway 25

Heat Pumps: Optimal energy conversion 26

Hydro-Electric Plants: Small, decentralised and environmentally benign 27

Biomass: Combustion, gasication, ermentation 28

Geothermal Energy: Heat and electricity rom depth 30

Wind Power: Tail wind or Swiss know-how 31

Nuclear Energy

Nuclear Fission: Growing the Potential with new reactor concepts 32

Nuclear Fusion: Milestones towards the use o a great potential 34

Cross-cutting issues

Boundary conditions or a sustainable energy supply 36

Innovation processes: Not or the aint-hearted 38

International collaboration 40

Adresses 41


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Editorial

Brochure on energy research in Switzerland.

Spring 2011. Available in German, French, Italian

and English. Copyright Swiss Federal Of ce o

Energy SFOE, Bern, Switzerland. All rights reserved.

Editorial and production

Swiss Federal Of ce o Energy SFOE, 3003 Bern,

Switzerland.

Phone 031 322 56 11, Fax 031 323 25 [email protected]

www.be.admin.ch

Editorial team

Swiss Federal Of ce o Energy SFOE;

Almut Bonhage, Bonhage PR; Philippe Gagnebin;

Jrg Wellstein, Wellstein Kommunikation.

Translation

Suter Consulting

Layout and design

Agence Symbol, 1763 Granges-Paccot

Sources o illustrations

Cover SFOEp. 2 SFOE; p. 3 Alstom Schweiz AG; p. 5-7 SFOE;

p. 9 Encontrol GmbH, Niederrohrdor; p.10-11

Mark Zimmermann, Empa; p. 12 ETH Zrich; p. 13

Mes Dea; p. 14 Lonza AG; p. 15 ETH Zrich; p. 17

Liebherr, Bulle; p. 18 Wrtsil Schweiz AG; p. 19

Alstom Schweiz AG; p. 20 PSI; p. 21 Hochschule r

Technik Rapperswil; p. 22-23 VHF-Technologies SA,

Yverdon-les-Bains; p. 24 Airlight Energy SA; p. 25

EMPA; p. 26 Jrg Wellstein; p. 27 Blue-Water-Power

AG, Schasheim; p. 28 Holzverstromung Nidwalden

Korporation Stans; p. 29 PSI; p. 30 Geopower Basel

AG; p. 31 Meteoswiss; p. 33 ETHZ/PSI; p. 34 ww w.iter.

org; p. 36-37 SFOE; p. 38 Institut de Microtechnique,

Neuchtel; p. 40 SFOE.

Impressum

Dear readers

Energy research is a central element o uture-orientedclimate and energy polices. High quality research must

point the way to a dependable, ef cient, environmentally

benign and economically viable energy supply system

or the uture. The benets rom well-executed energyresearch are quite evident: Technical innovation leadsto increased energy ef ciency, and more eective use o

renewable energy conserves our natural resources. As a

result o these eorts new jobs are also created. Export o

such innovative energy and environmental technologies

strengthens the Switzerland's position as a research and

knowledge leader and contributes to reducing the threato global climate problems.

The development o new energy technologies oten spans

decades. Good research simply requires time, is expensive

and may include high risks. Exactly or these reasons pub-lic nancing is essential. Thus nancial risks or an institu-

tion engaged in innovative research can be reduced anda long-term impulse provided. In this manner achieving a

uture-oriented energy supply can be eectively pursued

and activities can be carried out which are essential topreserve Switzerlands technological position.

Energy research is much debated and written about, but

how it is organized, which elds are pursued and the

achivements o the researchers are less well known. This

brochure serves to illuminate the main areas and activi-ties o Swiss energy research.

Walter Steinmann

Director o the Swiss Federal Of ce o Energy


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We need a vision in order

to correctly set goals

As president o the CORE how do you seeSwiss energy research polices?

Swiss energy polices are oriented towards revising the

CO2 law aiming at and ullling goals being discussed

in Europe and worldwide. These goals are based on

knowledge in the area o climate research and aim to

stabilize global temperature increases to between +2 to+2.5 K by 2100. This recognizes that Switzerland must

also drastically reduce global greenhouse gas emis-

sions, in particular CO2. To achieve drastic reductions,

substantial increase in the ef ciencies o all energy

conversion processes and services are necessary. Essen-tial are major reductions in the consumption o ossil

uel based energy production as well as the ull realisa-tion o the potential o renewable energy and low CO2

technologies in general. In the long term visionary con-

cepts, such as the 2000 Watt

Society or the 1 ton CO2 perperson and year are important

to emphasize that strong and

not just cosmetic corrections

are essential.

What can the CORE contribute?

Already in the Master Plan 2008 2011, developed about three

years ago, we established our

interim goals to be achieved bythe year 2050 in the true sense

o energy politics:

no more ossil uels to heat

buildings and produce hot

water,halving the energy demand o

all buildings in Switzerland,

realizing the ullest potential

o biomass, and

achieving a eet average o 3litres per 100 km or all private

automobiles.

Tony Kaiser, why is energy research important

or Switzerland?

There are two reasons why energy research is impor-tant or Switzerland: First, energy research should deliv-

er the necessary technologies to meet our own energydemand in a sustainable manner and be based on the

broadest possible energy mix. Second, the export po-

tential and jobs are a particularly important actor or

our economy. With our broad basis o technical com-petencies we can successully bring products onto the

world market. Such economic development o sustain-

able technologies is a driving orce behind Swiss energy

research.

What is the purpose o CORE?

The CORE's main unction is to advise the Federal Coun-

cil (the ederal executive branch) and the Swiss Federal

Department or Environment, Transportation, Energy

and Communications (DETEC) in areas o energy re-search. This assignment was dened as the mandate o

the CORE at its ounding in the year 1986 by the Federal

Council. The 15 members o CORE represent industry,

energy businesses, technical universities as well as di-

erent authorities committed to promoting Swiss en-

ergy research. Together with the Swiss Federal Of ce oEnergy (SFOE), every our years the CORE denes and

updates the Swiss Federal Energy Research Master Plan.

This document ormulates recommendations or Swiss

energy research. Input is given by experts, including

the leaders o the research programmes o the SFOE.

DIRECTION OF ENERGY RESEARCH_ INTERVIEW

According to Tony Kaiser, president o the Federal Energy Research Commission (CORE), Swiss energy

research is high quality. Increasingly energy and climate polices, that is the reduction

o greenhouse gases shape energy research activities. The challenges are great; in demand area long-term oriented energy polices and commensurate budget.

Tony KaiserTony Kaiser holds a PHD in physical chemistry rom the

University o Zurich. Today he is employed by Alstom,

Switzerland (AG). As director o Future Technologies, heis responsible or long term research in the area o power.

Since 2002 he has been a member o the Federal Energy

Research Commission, CORE and he has been president

since the beginning o 2004.

CORE

In 1986 the Swiss

ederal executive branchestablished the CORE

(Commission drale pour

la recherche nergtique)

as its consulting bodyand also to advise the

Deparment o Environ-

ment, Transportation,

Energy and Communica-tions (DETEC). Every our

years the CORE prepares

the Swiss Federal EnergyResearch Master Plan. This

concept guides the plan-

ning o publically unded

energy research and theamount o unding neces-

sary to help achieve policy

defned energy goals.

The CORE, with its 15members, examines and

accompanies Swiss energy

research programmes.

www.energy-research.ch


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DIRECTION OF ENERGY RESEARCH_ INTERVIEW

We have set clear priorities and ocus on the two main ar-

eas: buildings and mobility. The goals were deliberately

chosen to be very pragmatic and visible. Achieving them

by 2050 would result in halving our emissions and bring-ing us very close to the CO2 goals we discuss today.

Buildings require a lot o energy resulted in clear

successes but at the same time energy research.

How is this going to continue?

In act, much has been achieved in this sector and the

research continues with ambitious goals, including:houses with zero-energy emissions, CO2 neutral build-

ings and even buildings which produce more electric-

ity than they consume. Researchers are working today

on architectural concepts with solar use combined with

highly ef cient thermal insulation and glazing systemswith dened light transmission properties. I am think-

ing also about innovative heating and cooling systems,concepts or standardizing the renovation o buildings

to reduce energy demand, and so orth. And, when we

think about building-integrated photovoltaic panels, it

is only a small step to consider smart grids. Such cleverelectric grids already have taken orm in research labo-

ratories.

What is the signifcance o the next energy

research Master Plan or the period 2013 to 2016,with respect to comments by some, that global

warming, though now irreversible, may be stabilized

albeit with drastic measures?

Certainly, the latest insights rom climate research will

inuence our next Master Plan. We wish to emphasizethe act that new energy technologies have to oer e-

cient and low CO2 energy services. To this end we will

try to be even more explicit than beore in ormulating

thematic research topics, such as the project: living

and working in the Future or Mobility in the Future.

We will strive to acilitate application oriented clusters

o individual programmes. Researchers should be mo-

tivated to cooperate more than in the past. This newstructure and context will also help in judging projectsin the sense o overall goal setting, and will enable

some concentration o available unding on high-prior-

ity topics.

Is it not di cult to come to an agreement on a single

energy research Master Plan, given that the COREconsists o 15 individual members with very dierent

backgrounds?

On the one hand, the CORE members are recognized

specialists in the energy eld. They are constantly in

search o rst class arguments but are not politicallymotivated. On the other hand, discussions within the

CORE take place in a very constructive manner. In thisway, it is possible or us to develop an energy research

Master Plan which considers all stakeholders. Finally,

the Energy Research Conerences provide an ideal dis-

cussion platorm with participation o a broad range ointerest groups to present our Master Plans.


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ENERGY RESEARCH

Publicly unded energy research:a contribution to sustainabledevelopment

Energy research is the oundation or our uture energy

supply, or innovation and or economic growth. There-

by, publicly unded energy research is o central impor-

tance. It provides an impulse, helps establish researchnetworks and builds bridges to the economy. It has thevery important objective o contributing towards meet-

ing uture energy demands in an ef cient, economical,

clean and sae way.

Generally, research is carried out at the beginning o a

process with culminates in the successul introductiono a new product into the market. In the eld o energy

the time span between research and market entry o-

ten requires several decades. Private enterprises, with

pressure or a ast return on investment, are oten is to

risk investing in such long-term research projects. Pub-licly unded research, in contrast to privately unded re-

search, looks beyond day-to-day operations.

Although quite modest in magnitude, public invest-

ment in energy research is, however, eectively ap-

plied. Today, public unding amounts to about CHF 175

million annually. This is less than at the beginning o the1990's when totals were up to CHF 200 million per year.Still, today's public research unding represents about

0.3 o GDP, placing the nation in the same league as

leading countries like Finland, Sweden or the Nether-

lands.

Given the need to advance technologies that supportsustainable development and given the threat o en-

ergy supply shortages and climate change, must ad-

ditional public resources be made available or energy

research.

Public expenditures for energy research since the beginning of data collection in 1977.

The values given for 2011 are as proposed by the CORE.

CHFMillion(realterm2

007)

Efficient Energy Use

Renewable energy

Energy policy fundamentalsand economics

Nuclear Energy0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1977

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011


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ENERGY RESEARCH

A new approach: the vision o a 2000 Watt Society

Swiss energy research is guided by the Swiss Federal

Energy Research Master Plan, which is updated every

our years by the Swiss Federal Energy Research Com-

mission (CORE) (see page. 3). The Swiss Federal Of ce oEnergy (SFOE), aided by the CORE, is responsible or the

implementation o the master plan.

Swiss energy research has a clear direction. Research

projects are considered to be o central importance

when they strive to improve energy ef ciency and in-

crease renewable energy use. The ultimate objective,

as ormulated in a constitutional article on energy, issustainable development. This is reected in the Mas-

ter Plan by a commitment to a long-term vision or an

ideal energy and environmental state. This vision has

been titled: The 2000 Watt Society (see page 4). Inthis society energy consumption per capita has beenreduced to one third o its current level, and annual CO2

emissions have been substantially reduced by a actor

six to about one ton per person. The Master Plan also

denes concrete, short-term goals which can be put

into eect towards reaching the long-term goal. These

are updated every our years with each adjustment othe Master Plan.

t CO2 per person and year

kW/person

The goals or energy research are based on the energy and climate policy goals

o the ederal government. Switzerland requires 6,500 watts o primary energy

per person, which results in around nine tons o CO2 emissions per personannually. In order to achieve sustainable energy consumption, the vision: 2000

Watt Society was ormulated. In the meantime, considering the strong climate

change and necessity to de-carbonisation existing energy systems, the ETH-

Zurich dened the vision 1 ton CO2 per person and year. While both conceptsstrive to achieve a marked reduction o greenhouse gas emissions, the 2000-

Watt Society also pursues a major reduction o the overall energy consumption.

Both visions serve as a oundation to dene national research programmes and

their individual projects.

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

2005

2050

2050

2100 2150 2100 2150

Vision 2000-watts Society (e.g. novatlantis)

De-carbonisation (e.g. ESC / ETH Zurich strategy)


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The SFOE, with its 25 research programmes, is a main

player in the Swiss energy research scene (see page 41).

It continuously supports 250 to 300 research projects

with supplementary unding and accompanies the sci-

entic and technical work. It also serves as the gatewayto Swiss research or other national or international

unding agencies and organizations like the European

Union and the International Energy Agency.

Hand in hand with industrySupporting energy research is not the prerogative o the

government alone. Swiss businesses also show a strong

interest in investing in the energy uture. In act, the in-

vestment in energy research by industry is nearly our

times greater than the investment rom public sources.

The combined investment o public and private sources

totals roughly CHF 1 billion. However, a substantial part

o industry-sponsored research is devoted to product

development. Hence, or energy research per se, the

public and private sector investment is nearly equal.

Public unds are also available or private research.

Companies willing to invest in risky projects are given

special consideration. This has lead to increasingly closeresearch collaboration among industry and public bod-ies since the end o the 1980's. One speaks today o

close public-private partnerships and indeed today in-

dustry has a say in the denition o government energy

research directions.

2007 R+D

2007 P+D

2011 R+D

2011 P+D

Annual publicexpenditures or 2007

0 10 15 20 5 30

olar heat and Photovoltaics

HF llion

B omass

ombined heat included uel cells

Electricity (included Grids

Hydropower

mbient heat

obility (included ccumulators

Industrial use of solar energy

ombustion included o er plant 2020

Wind energy

Geothermal energy

rocess eng neer ng

uildings

Energy economy societyincluded echnology transfer

uclear fusion

Nuclear energy and safety

(included Regulatory safety research)


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ENERGY RESEARCH

65% o the resources or applied research

The ultimate goal o energy research is market compat-

ibility and practical application. Hence, research covers

almost the whole spectrum rom undamental research

to market introduction o the product. Applied research

is emphasized, receiving about 65% o the total budget.Research must result in products, installations, materi-

als and processes. Fundamental research accounts or

about 31% o the total. It is sponsored under the condi-

tion that at least potential uses or energy technologiesare identied.

Pilot and demonstration plants currently account or a

mere 4% o the total unding, though they are absolute-

ly essential as a bridge between research and market.

Ensuring a transer o publicly unded research resultsto the market place is a responsibility o public institu-

tions disbursing research unds. Accordingly, close col-

laboration with the private sector is not only advanta-

geous, it is absolutely essential.

A stakeholders network

The Swiss Federal Of ce o Energy (SFOE) coordinatesenergy research in close collaboration with other pub-

lic institutions that support research. Specic examples

are the Board o the Swiss Federal Institutes o Technol-

ogy, the State Secretariat or Education and Research(seco), the Federal Of ce or Proessional Education and

Technology (OPET) through the Innovation Promotion

Agency, the Swiss National Fund or Scientic Research

(SNSF), the universities and universities o applied sci-

ence, and private grant-giving oundations o the en-ergy industry.

A large proportion o the research projects are conduct-

ed by public scientic institutions. The main ederal in-

stitutions are the Swiss Federal Institutes o Technologyin Zurich (ETHZ) and Lausanne (EPFL), the Paul Scher-

rer Institute (PSI) and the Swiss Federal Laboratories or

Materials Testing and Research (EMPA). At the cantonal

level, universities and universities o applied sciences

are involved. Apart rom this, public bodies oten grant

nancial aid to industry, to engineering consultanciesand to private individuals. Such projects are operated,

when possible, in partnership with public research

establishments. An underlying principle o the Swiss

Federal Of ce o Energy is subsidiarity; public unding

should primarily serve to trigger new projects and top-

o project budgets i needed.

International collaboration is a must!

Switzerland's energy research is not isolated rom the

rest o the world; international co-operation is a must,

as it provides advantages to all participants. In par-ticular it makes use o synergies, avoiding duplication.Thereby overall research ef ciency increases. Interna-

tional projects are a tradition, in particular within the

ramework o the International Energy Agency (IEA)

and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). Moreover,

Swiss participation has increased in ramework pro-

grammes o the European Union.

Energy research strives to be a corner stone to achieve

a sustainable energy system in Switzerland. To accom-

plish this, researchers cannot remain in an ivory tower;

they must interact with other disciplines and with prac-titioners. In this process economic, political, social and

ecological actors must be considered. By adopting anactive communication policy, public bodies, among

others, are tasked to inorm the wider public about re-

sults achieved in energy research.


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Good practice in process engineering can lead to up

to 20 percent energy savings in industrial applications.

Mathematical analysis o processes and simulations

can identiy the economic, ecological and energy sav-

ing impacts o dierent process designs. In addition to

increasing energy ef ciency, research is also striving toincrease the use o renewable energy in industry.

Priority is, however, given to improving thermal proc-

esses. Example applications include drying, productiono speciality chemicals, the ood industry and agriculture.

Bringing together the key knowledge parties

Through applied research, energy use can be optimised

and the ecological impact o processes minimised. A

project typically begins with an industry partner ex-

pressing a need. A research activity is then initiated.This may be in the orm o engineering a needed meas-

urement technique or modelling a process. Success

Greenhouses in Steinmaur are now heated by burning wood instead o oil. Thechallenge or the process engineer was to guarantee the supply o heat quickly

enough rom normally rather slow responding wood combustion, in order torespond to the drastic changes in solar radiation and cloud cover that wouldotherwise lead to greatly varying greenhouse temperatures. The solution lay in

calling on hourly weather orecasts rom Zurich-Kloten as input to automatically

determine the control strategy. This system has been in operation and proven

eective since the beginning o 2006. It is a rst in Switzerland.

Thinking o everything

when designing processes

RATIONAL ENERGY USE_PROCESS ENGINEERING

depends on bringing together

the right specialists, process

engineers, energy experts and

researchers.

In practice it can be observedthat a good technical solution

considering all aspects is only

applied when there is an eco-

nomic gain in the end. Produc-tion processes, above all, mustdeliver the required quality and

productivity. Energy use and

ecological impact are also im-

portant, but secondary. An im-

pediment to change is the certi-

cation o production and saety.

Improving complex

production processes

A basic principle, particularly in

the case o complex thermal processes is: rst analyseand then optimise. In one example, the process chain

o a clay masonry manuacturer was studied in orderto develop a computer-supported optimisation tool.

This tool was to enable processes to be carried out

with a lower energy consumption but maintaining the

same product quality. This goal was unortunately notachieved because measuring the ring process proved

more complex than anticipated.

Better results were achieved or a chemical manuactur-

er. The ETH Zurich developed a computer programmeecosolvent which was instrumental in improving the

use o energy and resources by this company. It was

possible to assess the recycling processes or waste sol-

vents by means o distillation or alternatively, burning

the waste solvents to produce useul heat. The analysisshowed that recovery o solvent is not always the best

ecological solution.

Sought: energy conscious industry partners

Energy-intensive industry branches are a target or ur-

ther advances in energetic process engineering. Theirprocesses can be made more energy ef cient and CO2

emission reduced through process engineering re-

search and development.

KeywordsWaste heat use

Waste heat up to 200 C

rom processes can be

utilized. This, too, is an es-sential part o economic

and ecological optimisa-

tion.

Process heat and cold

Process heat is normally

generated by oil or gasred plants. Cold is

produced by electri-

cally powered machines.

Decision-makers oten donot trust the quality or

dependability o alterna-

tive energy systems toproduce heat or cold.Hence alternative energy

use is seldom considered

in engineering a process.Convincing evidence to

encourage such use can

be supplied rom easibil-

ity studies, laboratoryinvestigations and rom

monitoring plants.


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Energy consumption:

down Comort: up!

Buildings require approximately hal o the primary

energy in Switzerland. O this about 30 percent is con-

sumed or space heating and cooling, and water heat-

ing; 14 percent or electricity use; and 6 percent or

construction and maintenance. Residences amount to27 percent o this total national energy consumption.

Fossil uels such as petroleum and natural gas domi-

nate the energy supply. Buildings thereore represent

a substantial burden o climate. Building research inSwitzerland is targeted towards developing technolo-gies to reduce this burden and pave the way towards

a 2000-Watt Society. In the oreground is the optimisa-

tion o the whole building as a system and research

into new materials and components.

Renovation is afordableA wide choice o technologies is available to substan-

tially reduce energy consumption in new buildings at

reasonable additional costs. In a building designed to

the Minergie-P Standard (see key words) heating en-

ergy consumption is reduced to such an extent, thatit is hardly worth mentioning. Also in structures con-

structed to the normal Minergie Standard (see keywords) or the target values o the SIA-Standard 380/1

heating consumption can be reduced to only slightly

more than hal o that used by conventional buildings.

Applying ecological building standards only to new

building construction is, however, insuf cient. An im-

portant opportunity to save energy lies in the renova-

tion o existing buildings. Parliament recognized this

and implemented a subsidy through a national build-ing renovation programme. Due to this support, but

also due to rising heating oil prices, a strong incentive

to renovate buildings is expected. Accordingly, the re-

search programme should develop concepts, technolo-

gies and planning tools or renovating buildings con-sidering the specic situation o existing buildings (see

the example).

Today, the knowledge and proven technologies re-

quired to meet many o the goals o the 2000-Watt Soci-

ety are available. To show how buildings can contributeto their part o this vision, the Swiss Proessional Soci-

ety o Engineers and Architects (SIA) has developed an

instrument, the Energy Path. It includes target values

or individual energy end uses o space heating, venti-

lation and cooling; hot water production; lighting; andappliances. Starting in 2010, gray energy and location

induced mobility are included in the Energy Path.

Light and heat transmission in conict

In the area o lighting the building research programme

is concerned with the building as a comprehensive sys-

tem, or example lighting concepts in combination withoptimal daylighting. Appliances and lighting xtures

are addressed under the subject o electricity research.

A principal topic o the programme is the development

o glazing systems with optimal energy and light trans-

mission properties or a given situation. Nevertheless, atransparent aade continues to be a weak element o

the building envelope. Even the best glass today is sub-

optimal regarding its ability to admit daylight but hold

back thermal radiation. At the University o Basel new

optical coatings are being investigated and at the EMPAvacuum glazing is being urther developed. The latter

oers the potential o halving the thermal conductivity

compared to the best glass currently available.

RATIONAL ENERGY USE_BUILDINGS


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Room climate comort and energy savings

Energy ef ciency in the conditioning o spaces no long-

er means simply rowning upon air conditioners. No-

body really wishes to sacrice the comort o a cooled

room in the heat o summer, particularly inof ces. Thekey topic today, is gentle cooling. The key to this is the

co-ordination o all actors aecting room temperature.

This system optimisation approach allows the optimi-

sation o room climate with minimal energy consump-tion. In any case, the quality o the building envelope,sun-shading and room geometry remain the main ac-

tors inuencing summer comort in a room. In winter

energy demand can be dramatically reduced by means

o a high level o insulation, optimised mechanical ven-

tilation with heat recovery and the use o passive solar

gains.

High perormance insulation

and new cooling systems

New materials or both high perormance insulation

and new cooling systems are already in the pipeline.That is, they work in the laboratory, though they are

not yet ready to be marketed. For the building enve-lope impressive progress has been made with vacuum

insulation. In order to apply it in construction, solutions

must be ound to protect it during installation and an-

choring.

For cooling a signicant breakthrough is expected with

magnetic cooling at the University o Applied Science in

Yverdon-les-Bains. When they succeed one may see air

conditioners in automobiles and of ces as well as rerig-erators no longer operating with HFC, ammoniac or CO2

compressors, but rather via direct magnetic cooling.

Distributed energy production

Buildings o the uture will not only be the placeswhere energy is consumed, they will also be designed

to be the sites o distributed power production. This is

thought o with regard to the use o photovoltaic sys-

tems and uel cells.

Keywords

Lie cycle analysis

Lie cycle analysis serves

to evaluate the ecological

and economic perorm-ance o materials, systems

or appliances. In the case

o buildings, not only theenergy consumption during

its useul lie is considered,but also grey energy

Grey energy

Grey energy is that energy

consumed to acquire raw

materials, process them,manuacture an item, store,

then to transport and install

it. This is in contrast to theenergy consumed during

the useul lie o the compo-

nent once it is installed.

Minergie standard

Minergie is the most im-

portant energy standard inSwitzerland or low energybuildings. The Minergie As-

sociation certies buildings

which ull its standardsin the twelve building cat-

egories covered. Currently

about 15 percent o new

buildings and 1 percent oexisting building renova-

tions are certied with the

Minergie label.

Minergie-P-house

Minergie-P is a very high

energy standard or build-ings. A building o this

standard aords year-round

comort without the need

or a conventional heatingsystem. Housing,

of ce buildings, actories,

kindergartens, schools,

sports halls and supermar-kets are already built to this

standard today.

Building renovation with preabricated

construction elements

A Minergie-P renovation o a multi-amily

building in Zug. Preabricated, highly insulat-

ing aade elements make it possible today toef ciently renew and add a oor to an exist-

ing building. The heat losses can thereby bereduced to 10 to 20% o the original losses.

(Photo: Mark Zimmermann)


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Vehicles should become more

ef cient, lighter and more intelligent

RATIONAL ENERGY USE_TR AN SP OR TATIO N

E cient power train

Swiss research in the area o power trains

pursues a combination o strategies:

Downsizing the internal combustion mo-tor and urther improvements o the mo-

tor and gear box;

Hybrid thermal power trains;

Natural gas and biogas as a uel, syntheticor bio-uels;Electric power trains with batteries and/or

ultra-capacitors and/or uel cells.

The order o these approaches reects their

expected market penetration. All o the e-

orts supported by the SFOE (Swiss FederalOf ce o Energy) have been able to be, at

least partially, applied in Switzerland.

The mass o a vehicle strongly afects its

uel consumptionLight construction o a vehicle rests on us-

ing materials o lower density, choosingintelligent constructions and by means o

bionic-simulation. Current approaches to

light construction will be urther pursued.Aspects o saety, comort, manuacturing

time and costs, as well as recycling o ma-

terials are all being considered so that the

product can be readily industrialized.

In addition to light construction, new small vehicles mayprovide mobility. These vehicles, such as electric-bikes,

achieve a high degree o ef ciency and can quickly re-

lieve commuter traf c. Less bulky, more energy ef cient

and emission ree vehicles are a major environmental

benet in urban agglomerations.

Public transportation

Also, energy perormance o public transportation sys-

tems can be greatly improved. Enhancing comort can

accelerate the shit rom private to public transporta-

tion. The SFOE is unding development work in busessuch as the Light Tram3 Hybrid by Carrosserie Hess,

Inc. in Bellach, is cut where uel consumption by ap-

proximately 40 percent and air polluting emissions by

at least 50 percent. In addition, noise emissions have

been reduced, an important benet as noise is a majorstress actor in modern cities.

Keywords

Light construction

vehiclesLighter vehicles are possi-

ble by means o intelligent

constructions, or examplecopying nature and/or

using materials with lower

densities.

E cient power trains

The ef ciency (tank to

wheels) o contemporaryautomobiles ranges rom

17 percent or common

vehicles with Otto engines,

to over 20 percent or vehi-cles with diesel engines, to

approximately 25 percent

by hybrid vehicles. Modern

electric cars achieve anotably higher ef ciency,

but have a limited range.

This is a signicant disad-

vantage. Exactly this pointis, however, where a total

concept is demanded,

including the productiono uels, hydrogen and

electricity.

intercooler

turbine

compressor

exhaust

throttle

intake

pressure tank

EHVS

Sketch o the principle o a pneumatic hybrid vehicle recently developedat ETH-Zurich. One prototype in 2008 demonstrated a uel savings

potential o about 32 percent.

Transportation accounts or about a third o Switzer-

land's energy consumption. O this about 70 percent

ower to automobile traf c. In spite o considerable im-

provements in ef ciency or the nation's car eet, theenergy consumption or this segment has remained

relatively constant. Increases in the weight o vehicles

and power o motors as well as increased traf c capac-

ity have oset higher ef ciency. The main thrusts or re-search and development are improving or creating newdrive trains, lighter vehicles, small mobility systems and

public transportation.

Fullling high ambitions

Modern vehicles possess exceptional perormance with

regard to minimal exhaust gases, saety and depend-ability. These qualities must not be compromised by

eorts to reduce energy consumption. The average uel

consumption o recently matriculated automobiles in

Switzerland is 7.43 litres per 100 km (2007) and the av-

erage ef ciency o a modern passenger car is less than20 percent. As a result o researching the power train,

the ef ciency can be expected to be improved to wellover 20 percent. At the same time, vehicles should be-

come substantially lighter, thanks to the strategic use o

new materials, without compromising saety. As a long-

term goal, uture cars should consume less than 3 litreso gasoline equivalent per 100 km.


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Improving energy storage

with accumulators

The research programme Accumulators investigates

opportunities to improve electro-chemical and elec-

trostatic energy storage. The ocus o this work is on

secondary batteries or the electro-chemical storage oenergy and super or ultra capacitors (s-caps) or electro-

static charge storage. Not included in this work are non-

rechargeable primary batteries.

Programme goalsThe specic energy output (Wh/kg) rom accumulators

should be increased in the long term rom the current

maximum o 200 kWh/kg to 2,000 kWh/kg.

By reducing inner resistance and optimising the stor-

age structure, uture storage systems should have anelectro-chemical ef ciency o at least 80 to 90 percent,

RATIONAL ENERGY USE_ACCUMULATORS AND ULTRA-CAPACITORS (S-CAPS )

Keywords

Accumulators,also called

secondary batteries, areelectro-chemical energy

storage devices which

release energy in the orm

o direct current. In contrastto primary batteries, they

can be recharged.

Super or ultra capacitorsare physical energy storage

devices which store an

electrostatic energy charge.Discharging and recharging

occur in a manner similar to

batteries.

An example is a zebra-battery based on sodium and nickel chloride.

It has a high storage capacity together with a high ef ciency and longlie expectancy.

a lie expectancy o at least 2,000 charging

cycles, a lietime o at least seven years and

contain no toxic materials. In addition, they

must be sae or handling. Such accumula-tors could increase considerably the use o

renewable energy, because renewable en-

ergy production is rarely synchronized with

energy demand.

In s-caps, specic energy storage should be

increased rom currently 10 to 40 kWh/kg.

Accumulators may play a considerable role

in storing renewable energy and cover de-

mand peaks or electricity.

Approaches

To achieve these goals nano-technology

may be applied. In ocus are accumulators

based on light alkali metals (lithium, sodi-

um) because they yield the highest specicenergy levels. Hydrogen, the smallest light

chemical element, promises the highestpossible specic energy rom this point o

view.

S-cap improvements should be possiblethrough several means, including increas-

ing the specic surace area and intelligent

switching.

SaetyThere is a correlation between the high

specic energy level o a battery and its

tendency to burn out through deagration.

This can be avoided by appropriate storage

and shielding solutions and this is also onegoal o the research programme.


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14

Task: more ef ciency

and innovative technologies

RATIONAL ENERGY USE_ELECTRICITY TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS

The importance o electricity has grown and will con-

tinue to grow in uture. The increase in electricity con-

sumption is not only due to the overall increase in

energy consumption; it can also be explained by the

substitution o electricity or other energy carriers. Anexample is the increased use o heat pumps, which in-

crease electricity demand while decreasing demand or

other heat sources like combustion o oil or gas.

The goal o the research programme on electricity is toincrease the ef ciency o the end-use o electricity, and

to develop innovative technologies or its production,

conversion and storage.

Higher investments to save money in the end

Opportunities to save energy can be ound in indus-try, of ces and homes virtually anywhere where new

electrical machines and equipment are purchased and

operated. One goal o applied research is to demon-

strate manuacturers as well as consumers potential

opportunities to save energy, and improvements in en-ergy ef ciency. An example o inef ciency is the stand-

by mode or IT or entertainment electronic appliances.

During standby, these devices consume en-

ergy to no real benet. Technically, it is no

problem to prevent such waste.

In industry special attention is needed orelectrically powered devices. Oten the in-

vestment costs are given all the attention,

operational costs over the service lie o

the motor are not considered adequately.Within the ramework o the research pro-gramme, tools are developed to calculate

costs over an entire lie cycle. Thus, motors

will be identied which are cost ef cient

over their lietime. Buyers o such motors

must, however, be motivated and accept

that a higher initial investment may be nec-essary to achieve lower operating costs and

hence lietime costs.

Storing electricity why not

with compressed airA urther important topic in energy re-

search is storing electricity. One may, orexample reverse, a hydroelectric plant to serve as a

pumping station. A similar principle is the application

o so-called compressed air storage. The idea is simple:

with an electrical motor air is compressed into a suit-able container (or example a pressure tank like those

used or industrial gas). In the reverse process, when

there is a high demand or electricity, the compressed

air is released through the compressor and the electri-

cal motor serves as a generator. The advantage o thisconcept is that there is practically no energy loss over

an extended time. Furthermore, the storage tanks are

relatively mobile and can be used practically anywhere

and their handling is easy. The challenge is now, togeth-

er with industry, to increase the ef ciency and optimisethis approach.

Valuable waste heat

Still at the level o basic research is the work on thermo-

electric processes. The search is ongoing or materials

which can produce electricity directly rom heat, orexample waste heat in the temperature range o 80 to

120 C by means o the Seebeck eect (see key words).

Another topic o basic research is the search or mate-

rials or high-temperature superconductors. Supercon-

ducting materials, when they are below a certain tem-perature, have the property o being able to conduct

electricity with no losses. Thereby, very ef cient electri-

cal applications can be possible.

Challenging Energy Consumption at LonzaThe company Lonza, Inc. in Wallis is one o the largest electrical

consumers in Switzerland. 94 percent o its consumption is rom

electrical motors. A study o the ef ciency o the plant pointedout that energy consumption could be cut up to 30 percent,

with a resulting large cost saving. As a result o this study, Lonza,

Inc. created a position Energy Challenges to systematically

identiy opportunities to economise by saving electricity.

Keywords

Motors

Electrical motors are

responsible or 45 percento the total electricity

consumption in Switzer-

land. Without any loss

in comort it is pos-sible to save 20 percent

by simply optimisingsystematically the drives

and their operation.

Seebeck efect

The Seebeck eectdescribes the production

o an electrical current o

an electrical voltage by

heating the contact pointo dissimilar conductors.

Thereby electricity is pro-

duced directly rom heat.


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RATIONAL ENERGY USE_TH E EL EC TR IC AL GR ID

Flexible, dependable

and economical

At the beginning o the electricity era, electricity was

produced at the location where it was consumed. In the

course o time such decentralised, small power station

based structures have been replaced by large power

plants interconnected by a centrally managed grid. To-day, there is a reversal back to distributed generation.

On the one hand, or ecological reasons small power

generation acilities producing electricity rom renew-

able sources are being promoted. On the other hand,the electricity consumer should be able, in an openmarket, to choose any provider. These new develop-

ments impose increasing demands on the electricity

grid. The electrical grid o the uture must be able to dis-

tribute energy rom both large central power stations

and small decentralised plants with the same degree o

dependability.

The consumer is becoming active

A grid which is able to deliver high perormance as well

as being exible is the backbone o the energy system

o the uture. The delivery o electricity runs not onlyrom the producer via the distributor to the consumer,

but also in the opposite direction, namely, when theconsumer himsel is also the producer. This is the case

or example, when the consumer has his own photo-

voltaic or wind energy electrical generation.

Mathematical models and simulations are being used

to study the basics and investigate new grid architec-

tures in order to develop grids which are very exible,

extremely dependable and economical. In addition to

technical and ecological actors, questions

regarding regulation o the electricity mar-

ket extending beyond national borders

must be considered. Only then can supply

bottlenecks and grid overloads be avoided.

An intelligent grid in Europe

and world-wide

Three programmes are working on de-veloping intelligent grids: the EuropeanTechnology Platorm SmartGrids, ERA-Net

Smart Grids o the European Commission

and the implementing agreement ENARD

(Electricity Networks Analysis Research &

Development) o the IEA (International En-

ergy Agency). The objective is the develop-ment o a uture-oriented electricity grid in

which the consumer, the producer and the

end distributor all work closely together.

Key to this is the intelligent conguration o

the nodes o the network in a manner thatmakes an automatic exchange o inorma-

tion possible. Energy and communicationnets must be intertwined to make the net

operation more ef cient and in the end, to

save energy. Switzerland is an active par-

ticipant in all three programmes.

Business interests versus security

o supply

The transition rom old to new grid struc-

tures within the ramework o liberaliza-tion is a dif cult and major eort. During

this process maintaining a level o supply

security at least equal to today's standards

poses a major challenge.

A balance must be ound between the

criteria o autonomy o supply and inde-

pendence, and economics. Independent

island grids, so called micro grids enjoy

the advantage o not having to react to ar-

reaching grid disturbances. On the otherhand, large grids benet rom being able

to distribute large amounts o electricity

with economies o scale and hence at lower

prices.

Keywords

Multiple energysource systems

The grids o the uture will

deliver not only electric-

ity, but also a complexmix o diverse additional

energy carriers such as

gas and heat or example.

At the intercept pointsbetween grids, energy

will not only be delivered,

it will also be convertedrom one orm o energy

carrier to another.

BlackoutA short overload o a

grid can lead to a wide-

reaching break in powersupply, as or example

happened in Italy on

September 28, 2003. To

avoid such accidentsthe grid and its loads

must be planned and co-ordinated internationally.

Smart Grids and the

IEA Implementing

Agreement ENARDThe EU initiated the

European Technology

Platorm, SmartGrids in

April o 2006. This was ol-lowed with the program

ERA-Net Smart Grids

in 2008. In addition the

IEA (International EnergyAgency) initiated the

Implementing AgreementENARD. One o the goalso these bodies is the

international coordina-

tion o research between

universities, researchinstitutes and industry.

Switzerland has been

active in all three bodies

since their inception.

electricity

natural gas

wood shavings

district heating

electricity

heat

cold

Energy Hub

At ETH-Zurich a model or the uture energy supply is being devel-

oped. The energy network contains so called energy hubs. These

allow the coupling o a specic number o decentralised energysources. The various energy orms can be converted at the hubsto other orms or stored. The goal thereby is to increase reliability

and cost ef ciency. The illustration shows the concept o an energy

hub with dierent energy conversion and storage possibilities.


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RATIONAL ENERGY USE_COMBINED HEAT AND POWER GENERATION

When heat production is combined with electricity gen-

eration, the result is a much more ef cient use o chemi-

cal energy. Combined heat and power (CHP) generation

couples the production o heat and electricity in a single

optimised system. Principally, there is a wide palette oapplications, rom small systems or single-amily houses

to large power plants with connected district heating

networks. Various actors have, however, have prevented

wide spread application o this technology until now.Frequently cited reasons against CHP generation in-clude: low prices o ossil uels, impediments to eeding

power into the utility grid, high investment costs or the

district heating network, high maintenance costs and

low electrical ef ciency.

A multitude o technologies and uelsTo meet heat demand, coupling combined heat and

power generation with a heat pump is an optimal way

to maximize ef ciency and reduce emission o pollut-

ants. From 100 percent energy input in the orm o a

uel, 150 to 200 percent useul thermal energy can be

produced. Stated another way, only hal o the uel is

needed to produce the required heat. The increase in

heat pump ef ciency achieved through research and

development work makes combining a heat pump and

CHP generation all the more interesting.

CHP generation systems make use o piston machines

(gas and diesel engines), gas and steam turbines, uel

cells and Stirling motors. A multitude o niche appli-cations conrm the increased overall ef ciency madepossible by these technologies. Whereas previously, oil

and natural gas were used, in uture many alternatives

can be imagined, including renewable energy rom bi-

ogas, sewage and reuse dump gas, garbage, wood, the

Earth (geothermal) and hydrogen.

More e ciency and less pollution

As many technologies exist or the production o heat

and o power, research and development in this area

extend over a wide range. Accordingly the research and

development o plants producing both heat and power

Production o heat and

power go together

The challenges o the uture are known:energy must be ef ciently used with

less pollution. An important step in this

direction is increasing the ef ciencies

o the individual technologies andapparatuses. A urther important step

is the combination o power and heat

production in a system to ef ciently

cover our energy demand. This latterapproach is called combined heat and

power (CHP) generation and has long

been known, but is not yet used widelyenough.

Research and development eorts

are targeted on identiying andexpanding possible applications o

CHP generation systems in dierent

directions. These applications must be

coordinated with changes occurringin other areas. In various research

programmes, individual components

and apparatuses or energy use andconversion are being improved,

processes simplied and emissions

reduced. Research in CHP generation

brings these single elements togetheras appropriate and then optimises

them or a given application.

Combustion research addressesprocesses and questions regarding

materials or combustion engines. It

seeks optimal solutions or specicuels, considering their properties.

The Programme: Power Plants 2020 is

oriented towards traditional knowledge

on gas and steam turbine technolo-gies. The goal is to promote research to

urther increase ef ciencies while also

sinking costs. Swiss research on uel

cell technologies is helping to achievea break-through in a novel energy

conversion system.

Combining Heat and Power Generation

as a Focus o Development


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17

The heart o a combined heat and power generation plant is the combustionengine. It must be optimised to maximize ef ciency under the constraint o

keeping emissions low. The combined heat and power module, consisting o

a gas engine with recycled exhaust gas, represents an important development.

is considered a cross-cutting programme, in contrast

to other research programmes which address specicquestions and solutions. All share a common goal to in-

crease ef ciency o components and whole systems, as

well as reducing emission o pollutants, i.e. in the case

o combustion, particulates, carbon dioxide (CO2), and

nitrogen oxides (NOx).

The goals are oriented according to the state-o-the-art

and so, according to the electrical power o the system,

are set to dierent levels. More ambitious goals or in-

creasing ef ciency and reducing pollution emissions

have been set or concepts up to 100 kW than or largersystems which have already been optimised.

Expectations are particularly high with regard to im-

provements resulting rom research eorts on ossil

uels systems. Such systems will in uture be conront-ed with price increases, supply shortages and stricter

emission requirements. In parallel, emphasis is put on

systems using renewable uels. In the short term, loweref ciencies or electricity production by such systems

Combined heat and power

Combined heat and power generationplants produce work and heat at the

same time, whereby work is mostly

converted to electrical energy.

CO2 emission

The chemical reaction o combustion

produces primarily carbon dioxide (CO2)

and water vapour (H20), but also smallamounts o diverse pollutants such as

carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen

oxides (NOx). As the amount o carbonin the combustion mix increases, so do

CO2 emissions. Hence, burning natural

gas produces less CO2 than heating oil

to produce a given amount o useul

thermal energy.

E ciency

Ef ciency is dened as the relationshipbetween the amount o useul energy

produced compared to the amount o

energy in some other orm which mustbe input into a process. Thereore, all

processes, which can also transorm

some orm o ambient energy into use-

ul energy, are implicitly more ef cientthan processes which are dependent

on the direct combustion o uel to pro-

duce heat and work. Large diesel and

gas engines in stand-alone-operation

can produce rom 100 percent chemicalenergy about 40 to 45 percent electrical

energy and about the same amounto useul heat or heating buildings.

However, i the produced electricity is

used to power a heat pump, useul heat

amounting to 150 to 200 percent o theelectrical energy can be expected.

must be accepted but not higher pol-

lutant emissions. Such plants will likelybe compact distributed applications,

responding to the distributed resource availability. This

raises questions regarding the price o electricity ed

into the grid and stability o the grid.

Striving or cost reductions

Research and development is targeted above all to

strong market diusion rom plants in the lower power

range, which shall be very dependable regarding con-

trol and diagnostics. To overcome the high investment

hurdle, measures to lower costs will be pursued. Thisalso includes operational and maintenance costs. On

the other hand, the success o large heat and power

generation plants can only be sustained i they are

able to tie into a district heating network or some other

large customer or heat.

Keywords


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18

RATIONAL ENERGY USE_COMBUSTION

In search o optimised

combustion processes

Combustion processes have always played a central role

in energy supply, and they will continue to be essential

or numerous related tasks in the uture. In the areas o

research and development, the ocus is thereore on

nding solutions to meet increasing requirements onhigh levels o ef ciency, minimum pollutant emissions

and improved economic viability. The concept o zero

emissions thereore represents the ultimate target or

the combustion process. The objective o reducing CO2emissions and the higher prices or ossil uels increasethe pressure to optimise combustion systems and im-

prove the chances or the use o renewable uels.

Growing demands

Continuity in Swiss combustion research has paved the

way or the development o a high level o expertise. Asound basis exists or urther research activities aimed

at meeting the increasing demands to reduce emissions

and improve the ef ciency o combustion systems. By

2020, or example, the goal is to reduce emissions o ni-

trogen oxides and particulate matter rom diesel enginesby a actor o 10. And in order to reduce CO2 emissions,

the degree o ef ciency will also have to be increased. Asa rule, internal measures in engines aimed at reducing

the production o pollutants also tend to lower the level

o ef ciency, and vice versa. In order to achieve these op-

posing goals, our understanding o the complex process-es that are set in motion during combustion needs to be

intensied. For this purpose, a variety o instruments are

required, including optical measuring procedures (laser

spectroscopy), computer-aided calculation

models (modelling) and suitable test acili-

ties in laboratories.

A concentration and continuity o eort inselected areas are essential to assure success.

In the past, this has been the case in the col-

laboration among institutes and laboratories

o the ETH and qualied industry partners.Clear evidences o such eective collabora-tions include the development o sensors

or tracking the processes in a combustion

chamber, special exhaust-handling process-

es and the SwissMotor. The latter is a gas mo-

tor in the 200 kW power range. Its perorm-

ance is impressive, with an ef ciency o over42 percent and minimal emissions.

Main points o urther combustion

research

Combustion must be understood as a chemi-cal, thermodynamic and kinetic process. The

spectrum extends rom eeding the uel, themixture and combustion processes, to the

production and handling o exhaust gases.

Laboratory acilities and equipment are

available or testing and implementation.These include the high-pressure, high-tem-

perature cell; the single-cylinder, two-piston

engine; and a test cylinder or ship diesel en-

gines. The latter contributed signicantly to

the Hercules project o the EU research pro-gramme. Future ship diesel engines should

have reduced gas and particulate emissions as well as

increased ef ciency and reliability.

Research on soot build-up and analysis, on particulatecharacterisation and on cooling processes poses urther

challenges or computation and simulation. A urther de-

sire is to better understand turbulent pre-mixing ames

and the interaction between turbulences and uels. Re-

sults will serve, in particular, to better dimension and ur-

ther improve the perormance o gas turbines.

New uels are coming

The increasing use o new uels, be they new composi-

tions or synthetic uels, sewage gas, biogas, hydrogen

raises new questions. Computations, simulations andtesting are necessary to guide research to optimise sin-

gle and dual-uel operations.

KeywordsSoot build-upSoot consists primarily o

carbon particulates with a

size rom 10 to 300 nano-

metres (nm). The dispersiono such tiny particulates

in the environment poses

a health hazard. Researchactivities aim at limiting

their build-up.

E ciencyEf ciency is the ratio o

delivered power relative to

supplied power. The term,

ef ciency, is used in orderto describe the ef ciency o

energy conversion and alsoo energy transer.

Synthetic uel

Customized uel is a compo-

sition precisely designed orthe needs o modern motor

concepts, so called de-

signer uels. For this various

processes are applied, suchas biomass to liquid (BtL)

gas-to-liquid (GtL), etc.

Single and dual-uel

operations

Dual-uel operation

indicates that either o twomodes o system opera-

tion can be selected, each

with a dierent uel. An

example is an automobilewhich can run on gasoline

or hydrogen. By contrast, a

single-uel system can onlyoperate with one uel type.

A test stand or combustion systems o large 2-cycle ship diesel motors;EU-Project Hercules.


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19

RATIONAL ENERGY USE_POWER PLANT 2020

Improving large power

plants

It is still possible to improve the ef ciency o the well-

known combined cycle gas turbine technology. Im-

provements are also needed in turbines to enable them

to use other chemical energy sources like hydrogen or

biogas, in addition to ossil uels. The Swiss industry, inco-operation with research institutes, should continue

to be in the position in the year 2020 to plan and build

the best possible plants.

Integration o the whole process chainBasically the goal is to develop targeted technical meas-

ures to increase the ef ciency o electricity generation

rom combined cycle, gas-and-steam turbine proc-

esses. Included, or example, are improvements in air

compressors and turbines, reducing the cooling load by

air, and achieving higher process values. For this work,multiple disciplines are needed, including: aerodynam-

ics, high temperature material science, electrical engi-

neering, process-engineering and combustion physics.

An overriding goal is to reduce CO2 emissions, be it by

process changes in order to acilitate separation and re-

tention o this gas; or by increased use o renewable,

CO2 neutral uels.

For compensation in the electrical grid

The short reaction time o gas turbine power plants

makes them well-suited to oset short term production

variations rom wind or photovoltaic power plants. Forthis reason research is also ongoing to improve the sta-bilisation o the electrical grid by making possible high

demand gradients ( 3% demand variation per second)

or grid-requency independent operation.

The work on Power Plant 2020 is being carried out

in co-operation with an EU research ramework pro-gramme with the initiative Power Plant 21 in Germa-

ny, as well as the FutureGen Programme o the USA.

Power shortages soon

Political and economic boundary conditions are as im-portant as scientic and technical aspects, given the

strong application-oriented structure o the research.Furthermore, the interace to the gas, electricity and

district heating grids poses special challenges or ap-

plying the results o this programme.

Research on combined cycle plants with a high ef cien-

cy and low pollution levels or power and heat produc-

tion is not only interesting or the export industry, it is

essential work. By the year 2020 shortages in the elec-

trical supply in Switzerland can be expected and addi-tional power generating plants have to be oreseen.

The research project Power Plant 2020 should improve the electrical

ef ciency o combined cycle gas turbine processes while reducing the

output o pollutants. In addition these processes should be adapted

to operate using new uels. Finally, interacing with the grid should beoptimised.

Keywords

Combined cycle gas turbine power plants (CCGT)

In CCGT power plants gas combustion drives a gas

turbine. Waste heat rom the ue gas is recovered toproduce live steam which drives a second turbine.

Both turbines together drive a power generator.

This combination o two processes, one at high (gas)

temperature and one at low (steam) temperature, leadstoday to an overall ef ciency o about 60%.


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RATIONAL ENERGY USE_FUEL CELLS

Swiss developments

or a European key technology

Fuel cells produce electricity directly rom a chemical

energy source by means o catalytical combustion.

They have a great potential because o their minimal

emissions and high ef ciency. Polymer electrolyte

cells (PEFC) produce primarily electricity while solidoxide cells (SOFC) are used or producing both heat

and power. The wide range o possible applications

o uel cells is thereore not surprising. The PEFC are

especially well suited or mobility applications. SOFChave been primarily used in stationary applications,though today they are also nding uses in portable

applications.

The uture lies in cell stacks

Basically, three research areas have been given prior-

ity to achieve a technology breakthrough, namely,achieving:

a high degree o dependability rom the cell stacks

and the whole system to enable uninterrupted opera-

tion;

increased lie expectancy o cell stacks through mate-rial science and modelling;

improvements in cell stacks and system technologyto reduce investment costs.

In this way such systems will become more

competitive with conventional technolo-

gies like internal combustion engines,

heating urnaces and accumulators.

Pilot and demonstration projects will have

to demonstrate the readiness and eco-

nomics o uel cells or practical applica-

tions. There is growing support o projectsaddressing system and process technolo-gies to be able to industrially produce cell

stacks and uel cells.

Applications with diferent time

horizons

Given the currently available uels a stepwise introduction o uel cell technology

makes sense. Fuel cells with ef cient ossi l

uel operation should be introduced rst.

Later, these will be replaced by systems

that operate with biogenic energy sourcesor hydrogen. As PEFC operation requires

hydrogen input, long-term research hasto be established in this area. On the other

hand, an internal conversion process al-

lows SOFC to operate with natural gas orbiogas. A more rapid market introduction

o such systems can be expected.

Networked research capabilities

Collaboration between research and pri-

vate enterprises is very important. For ex-ample the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), the

University o Applied Sciences o Biel and

the rms Michelin and CEKA are working

together to develop the PEFC. Another

example is collaboration among the ETHin Zurich and Lausanne, the EMPA, the Uni-

versity o Applied Sciences o Zurich and

the rms Hexis, HTceramix and Fucellco to

develop the SOFC.

SFOE emphasizes international networking in thisarea. Swiss researchers are closely involved in research

projects within the ramework o the IEA. This high

priority that this technology enjoys in Switzerland and

international importance are urther illustrated by the

creation o a so-called Joint Technology Initiative orHydrogen and Fuel Cells o the European Commis-

sion. With the united orces o research, business and

policy makers, Europe should take the world lead inthe development o this technology.

Switzerland is strong in basic research, system integration and

the development o complete solutions or uel cells.

Keywords

PEFC

Polymer electrolyte uelcells convert hydrogen

and oxygen into water and

electrical power. A solid

polymer membrane servesas electrolyte. The conver-

sion process is operated at

low temperatures and hasgood dynamic properties,

making it suitable or

mobility applications.

SOFC

Solid oxide uel cells are

operated at high tempera-

ture (800 to 1000 C). In thisuel cell type a ceramic is

used as solid electrolyte.

With this type o uel cellnot only power generation

but also waste heat utilisa-

tion is important, especially

or space heating purposes.

The EUs Joint Technology

Initiative or Hydrogen

and Fuel CellsIn a limited number o

technological areas o high

strategic relevance or theEuropean Union, Joint

Technology Initiatives are

setting up public private

partnerships. Signicantinvestment and research

capabilities rom both the

private and the public

sector are being generated

to push Europe to becomethe world leader in research

and development o thesetechnologies.


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21

RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES_SOLAR HEATING

Increasing the use

o solar heat

The principle o active solar heating can be summed up

as ollows: capture, convert, store and deliver energy ac-

cording to actual demand (see keywords). Active solar

applications are as diverse as the temperature ranges

covered by these technologies, namely rom 25 C orheating buildings or swimming pools, to more than

2,000 C or solar ovens. In between these extremes are

applications or industrial processes demanding tem-

peratures between 100 and 250 C.

The research programme Solar Heat concentrates mainly

on applications with the largest potential: those produc-

ing heat at low temperatures or heating domestic hot

water and space heating. These two applications account

or about 40% o the total energy consumption in Swit-

zerland. Today, solar collector technologies or domesticwater heaters and space heating are technically mature.

Thanks to research and development carried out in the

1990s, systems developed in Switzerland are considered

among the best in Europe.

Reducing cost

Nevertheless, the cost o solar heat to the consumer isstill high compared to the competing ossil uels. Heat

rom at plate collectors typically used or single-amily

houses costs between 25 and 35 Swiss cents per kWh.

Solar heat reduces the amount o conventional energywhich has to be purchased, typically costing only 5 to

20 Swiss cents per kWh. For this reason, current research

ocuses on simpliying installations to reduce the initial

investment and improve perormance in terms o use-

ul kWh/m2 o collector area. Scientists are particularlyinterested in so-called combi-systems or domestic hot

water and space heating. Such systems require between

12 and 20 m2 o collector area or a single-amily house.

Demand or such systems is growing throughout Eu-

rope. They can cover between 30 and 50% o the heat

demand in a well designed and insulated

single-amily house. The longer term goal is

to have ull coverage by solar only.

The challenge or the utureBecause today, solar thermal systems are o-

ten conronted with acceptance problems,

research and development are needed in the

architectural integration o systems. Accord-ingly, the solar thermal research programmehas given priority to new technologies and

components which can be used as building

elements.

Another topic is the increasing demand or

room air conditioning and the resultinglarge increase in demand or electricity. Be-

cause the greatest cooling demand occurs

during sunny weather, solar energy is a logi-

cal means to supply the needed energy or

cooling. Solar applications or this purposeshould be developed which can compete

with conventional electrically operated airconditioning.

Improving storage technologies

Heat storage is a major research topic. Seasonal heatstorage systems store solar energy collected in the sum-

mer or use in winter. Short-term storage systems span

shorter intervals, or example bad weather periods o a

ew days. Heat storage is thereore a key technology to

achieve a high solar coverage o the heat demand bybuildings.

In Switzerland storage technologies are mainly designed

or the single-amily housing market. One perected sea-

sonal system stores low-temperature heat (5 to 30 C) inthe ground, then raises the temperature to useul levels

with a heat pump. Such systems, however, are still wait-

ing to nd a place in the market. Research is also address-

ing the ef ciency o heat storage in water tanks and the

use o new materials. Heat storage via physical-chemical

processes promises to achieve high energy storage den-sity and low heat losses. The goal is to achieve the heat-

ing autonomy o buildings by covering 100% o the heat

demand by a solar technology at reasonable costs.

The main Swiss institutions researching the use o lowtemperature solar heat are the University o Applied Sci-

ences in Rapperswil with its Institute o Solar Technolo-

gies, the University o Applied Sciences o the CantonVaud in Yverdon and the Federal Institutes o Technology

(ETH), in particular in Lausanne.

Compact combi-systems or domes-

tic water heating

and space heating

are tested at theUniversity o Ap-

plied Sciences in

Rapperswil. Promis-ing results indicate

that a signicant

improvement in

solar heat deliveryat less cost may be

achieved, thanks to

compact design and

system optimisation.

KeywordsActive use

In the active use o solarenergy, solar radiation is

converted by collectors

to usable heat at an

appropriate temperature,typically between 30 and

60 C. Components

(pipes, possibly pumpsand heat exchangers)

transer the solar generated

heat to the point o use.

Passive use

In the passive use o

solar energy, solar energy

is collected, distributedand stored by the building

itsel. Because the building

is the key, this technol-ogy is presented in the

programme Energy and

Buildings (see page 10).


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Photovoltaic energy enters

the industrial phase

Solar radiation is the most important source o energy

on earth. Every day it supplies enough energy to satisy

more than 10,000 times the daily energy needs o the

whole world. It would thereore be suf cient to convert

0.1 o this radiant energy into electricity to cover all othe worlds energy current consumption.

The conversion o solar radiation into electrical energy

has been possible or some time. In act the rst solarcell prepared rom silicon crystal (see keywords) was per-ected by American researchers already in 1954. The idea

is simple and based on a principle well known by physi-

cists: the photoelectric eect. The act is that some sub-

stances emit electrons when they are exposed to light.

This transormation occurs without movement, noise, or

any other emission.

Industry o the uture

Today, photovoltaic (PV) energy has made its mark in

the industrial era. Thanks to the quality o its research,

Switzerland has a trump card to play in this new mar-ket, which globally is growing annually 30 to 40% and

increasing. Based on a survey o the Swiss PV industry,exports rom the country were estimated to total about

500 million Swiss rancs in the year 2007. I national sales

are included, the total sales volume or the Swiss photo-

voltaic industry rises to at least 600 million Swiss rancs.

Furthermore, the sector has a large unexploited poten-

tial. Scientists estimate that the price o solar cell installa-

tions can still be reduced by a actor o 3 or 4. Only i this

is achieved can this technology be truly competitive andlarge scale applications easible.

Giving priority to applied research

Given these acts, PV research is ocused on improving

existing technologies by projects that are directly ori-ented towards practical applications. Accordingly, 90%

o Swiss public research resources allocated or the PV

energy sector are assigned to reducing system costs. This

includes all components o systems: the photovoltaic

modules which are responsible or two-thirds o the

system costs, the inverter and the mounting structure.Further, the technical ef ciency o the complete system

should be improved.

RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES_PHOTOVOLTAICS

Developing second-generation cells

The main ocus o this research is developing thin-lm

cells made rom silicon or semi-conductor compounds

(see the glossary). Second-generation cells oer the ad-

vantage o needing much less material and energy ortheir production, compared to the silicon crystal cells

o the rst generation that still make up the backbone

o todays photovoltaic industry. However, the market

share o thin-lm cells has recently increased. Second-generation solar cells have a greater potential or costreduction than those o the rst generation. In addition,

thin-lm cells oer greater exibility to meet the needs

o a range o applications and they can be readily com-

bined with building materials. Current research projects

aim to urther improve the cell ef ciency, optimise the

manuacturing process and establish the inrastructurenecessary to support the industrial partners. Thin-lm

technologies are nearing industrial maturity. Paradoxi-

cally, the success o classical technologies based on crys-

tal silicon has been helpul or the new technology. The

production capacity o the rst-generation cells cannotkeep up with demand, resulting in increased demand or

the second-generation cells.


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From undamental research to the market: The thin-

lm cell technology, developed in the laboratories othe Institute o Microtechnics (IMT) o the University o

Neuchtel (today integrated into the EPFL in Lausanne)

is being urther developed today by a spin-o rm.

VHF Technologies in Yverdon is getting the thin-lm

technology or application on exible substrates readyr the market. This is proceeding in collaboration with

the world's largest solar cell manuacturer, Q-Cells.

solar radiation on a surace based on Meteosat data), as

well as at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen (thermo-

photovoltaics).

Imitating natureIt is thought that thin-lm cells and crystalline cells

would co-exist or a long time. This has indeed been the

case because rst-generation cells continue to show po-

tential or considerable improvement. This is in particularevident in the areas o materials, cell ef ciency and pro-duction processes. Such developmental work is princi-

pally the job or industry.

It is becoming apparent that three generations o cells

will probably coexist. Approximately 10% o public unds

(not invested in applied research) benets undamentalresearch projects with applications oreseen rst ater

the year 2020. This research aims to develop a new gen-

eration o solar cells that are organic or polymer-based,

making use o nanophysics. The motivation or this work

is the hope or materials with lower costs, using raw ma-terials in unlimited supply and easier to work. The ulti-

mate aim is to imitate nature in order one day to achievearticial photosynthesis.

Close collaboration with the industry

Thin-lm silicon cell techniques are being developed

mainly at the Swiss Federal Institute o Technology in

Lausanne (EPFL) with the support o two universities o

applied sciences: the Haute Ecole Arc Ingnierie in LeLocle and the Interstate University o Applied Sciences

o Technology (NTB) in Buchs (SG). In parallel, the EPFL

continues to work on the development o cells with

colour dyes (Graetzel cells). The Swiss Federal Instituteo Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) is investigating the de-velopment o solar cells comprised o semi-conductor

compounds. These institutions all collaborate closely

with industry and several receive support rom the Swiss

Innovation Promotion Agency (CTI). They are well inte-

grated into international networks, especially in projects

o the European Union.

Other Swiss competence centres or PV research can be

ound at the University o Applied Sciences o the Italian-

speaking region o Switzerland in Lugano (photovoltaic

panel technology) and at the University o Applied Sci-ences in Burgdor (inverters and electrical systems). Sup-

plementary activities take place at the Universities oBerne (antenna-solar cells) and Geneva (determining the

Keywords

First-generation cells

First-generation crystal-

line cells are made osilicon in mono-crystalline

or poly-crystalline orm.

Solid silicon is used because

o its semi-conductingproperties. It is present in

abundant quantities onthe Earth, as sand or quartzin an oxygen compound

(silicon-oxide, silicates). The

use o silicon or solar cell

production requires theappropriate processing.

Second-generation cells

Second-generation cellsare made up o a thin-lm

or layer o material which

is applied over a sub-strate material. The goal

o thin-lm technology

development is to reduce

the amount o material andenergy required by the cell

production. The new cells

should have similar physical

properties, oer more ex-ibility or dierent types o

applications and cost less.

For thin-lm photovoltaiccells dierent materials can

be used, namely amorphous

silicon and its derivatives

(micromorphous silicon),or II-VI compounds o the

periodic table o elements.

Substrates can be made o

glass, metal or plastics.


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RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES_HIGH TEMPERATURE SOLAR ENERGY

Keywords

Thermo-chemical cyclesThe long-term scientic goal is to produce hydrogen by means o the material

cycle o zinc and zinc-oxide. Solar energy is to be used or splitting zinc oxide into

Public Energy Research in Switzerland

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