For Anthony Patt, Europe’s ambitious plans for a hydrogen economy may be too ambitious, tipping the scales towards the interests of the fossil fuel industry, rather than energy consumers and the climate. Switzerland should be careful before jumping fully on board, he argues. Read More The post Hydrogen: handle with care appeared first on Energy Blog @ ETH Zurich ..read more

The Energy Data Summit, held during Energy Week @ ETH, participants discussed the pivotal role of open energy data in Switzerland's energy transition. Our blog discusses the key takeaways of the summit, including the significance of energy data, the current status of open energy data in Switzerland, and the existing challenges and potential solutions. Enjoy! Read More The post Unveiling the Power of Open Energy Data in Switzerland: Learnings from the Energy Data Summit appeared first on Energy Blog @ ETH Zurich ..read more

Insurance services help individuals, businesses, and organisations be more resilient and recover from financial losses. But what role does insurance have in the energy sector? Find out below with some key takeaways from our recent publication Ensuring/insuring resilient energy system infrastructure in Environment Systems and Decisions. Read More The post Energy systems and insurance: a primer appeared first on Energy Blog @ ETH Zurich ..read more

Harnessing the sun's energy to generate electricity through building envelopes presents an opportunity for us to contribute to a better future. But what is the energy generation potential of your building, and how can you estimate it? Beyond energy generation and savings, what should you keep in mind before integrating photovoltaic systems (PVs)? Making an informed decision is essential when thinking about installing solar PV on your building. This involves understanding its solar generation potential and weighing all other relevant factors. In this blog post, I will walk you through the proce ..read more

The integration of renewable energies increases the need for flexible power to be able to always match supply and demand. One source of clean flexible power could be coming from the end-users as the systems at local scale transition to low-carbon multi-energy systems. The flexibility potential of multi-energy systems for balancing services can be quantified by integrating the rules and rewards governing flexibility in energy system models. It aids the end-users to meet their energy economically and the transmission system operators to drive regulation designs that could maximize flexibility fr ..read more

Auctions for renewable energy support have become the standard way to give out subsidies to solar energy projects and other renewables in Europe. In an auction, investors usually compete to receive the subsidy based on their offered support price, where the bidders with the lowest offered prices win. The Swiss government has started using auctions to award investment subsidies to larger PV projects. Are the auctions designed well and fit for purpose? How have the auctions performed until now? Read More The post Are Swiss solar PV auctions designed well and how can they be improved? appeared fi ..read more

Navigating the complexities of bioenergy, its potential for carbon neutrality, and its conflicts with land, food, and feed resources is a pressing issue. What if we could circumvent these issues and focus solely on land-free bioenergy, similar to growing mushrooms on waste coffee grounds for a delicious dish? Waste and byproducts can generate valuable bioenergy, playing strategic roles in a future sustainable energy system. This blog post presents key findings from our latest research papers, providing insights into the strategic applications of land-free bioenergy and its policy implications ..read more

Gabriela Hug – an expert in power transmission networks – argues that securing an affordable energy supply from renewable sources is not a utopian ideal for Switzerland, but rather a practical and feasible necessity. Read More The post Can Switzerland transition to a secure renewables-based energy system? Absolutely! appeared first on Energy Blog @ ETH Zurich ..read more

Community solar systems, defined as medium to large-scale PV installations co-owned by multiple building owners and/or tenants, offer one option to increase PV adoption in cities. This blogpost summarizes the findings of our recent paper that explores if, by how much and under which conditions community solar could help accelerate PV adoption in cities. Read More The post Should policymakers promote community solar PV systems in cities? appeared first on Energy Blog @ ETH Zurich ..read more

To decarbonize our economy, electricity will replace oil and natural gas as the primary energy carrier. Where should that power come from? Many people argue that all of it should be produced domestically. Careful analysis suggests some share of it should be imported, says Anthony Patt. Read More The post Why we need electricity trade appeared first on Energy Blog @ ETH Zurich ..read more