Energy
Making installed train windows permeable to mobile-phone signals
TechTransfer
EPFL
EPFL spin-off nu glass has successfully tested a portable system that makes the window panes on railcars permeable to mobile communications. This can bring significant environmental and cost benefits to railway companies and mobile-phone operators, since they’ll no longer have to install signal boosters to provide wireless connectivity for passengers.
Manure and slurry are underused energy resources
Research
WSL PSI
Barely any of Switzerland's solid and liquid animal manure is used to generate energy. Yet fermentation of manure and slurry has the potential to replace fossil fuels and make agriculture more climate-friendly. A publication by energy researchers from institutions including WSL and PSI aims to help government and industry professionals better exploit this valuable resource.
Next Target: Net Zero Emissions
Politics
ETH Board
What are the institutions of the ETH Domain doing to reduce the CO2 emissions of their buildings? An overview shows: quite a lot, from anergy and waste heat to district heating and photovoltaics.
Getting hydrogen out of banana peels
Research
EPFL
Scientists at EPFL have developed a way to maximize hydrogen yields from biowaste, within few milliseconds. The method uses rapid photo-pyrolysis to produce hydrogen gas and solid conductive carbon from banana peels.
Can hydropower and fish co-exist?
Research
ETH Zurich
Hydropower delivers renewable electricity, but comes with massive fish mortality – a global dilemma that can only be addressed by true compromises, says Luiz Silva, and outlines how to find them.
Mini electricity generator from quantum dots
Research
Empa
Mickael L. Perrin wants to build tiny power plants from graphene nanoribbons that generate electricity from heat. His ambitious project won him one of the prestigious ERC Starting Grants from the EU and one of the 32 Eccellenza Professorial Fellowships by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). He will take up an assistant professorship at ETH Zurich – and continue his research at Empa.
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