Responsibility and sustainability
Energy, climate, food, future cities and the handling of complex risks are all topics of global importance in which ETH Zurich has established itself as an international centre of excellence.
Most ETH departments and a growing number of competence centres are researching and creating solutions to ensure the sustainable development of our society.
In the field of energy, ETH Zurich has contributed significantly to implementation of the Federal Council’s Energy Strategy 2050. ETH is leading three of the eight Swiss Competence Center for Energy Research (SCCER) centres: external pagepower supplycall_made, energy efficiency in industry and external pagemobilitycall_made. Under the umbrella of the Energy Science Center, researchers from engineering, the natural sciences and social sciences are working together on renewable energies and their integration into the energy infrastructure, and on sustainable business models for the energy sector.
In climate research, ETH Zurich is working with partners to set up the external pageSwiss Polar Institutecall_made; it also operates the external pageNational Centre for Climate Servicescall_made (NCCS). Competencies relating to climate simulation and the modelling of its future development are combined in the Center for Climate System Modelling (C2SM). Climate scientists and researchers from various departments are also investigating how climate change affects ecology, the economy and society. ETH climate experts are involved as authors in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports.
Research at the World Food System Center (WFSC) contributes to long-term food security. Agricultural, environmental and nutritional scientists are working with industry partners to develop innovative approaches to the question of how the world’s growing population can be sustainably and consistently supplied with high quality, healthy food. This requires environmentally friendly and robust production systems.
In the field of high density urban area development, ETH Zurich researchers at the Singapore ETH Centre are investigating the progress of sustainable urban development under different cultural, climate and economic conditions. The Future Cities Laboratory brings researchers from different disciplines together with designers and architects.
ETH takes a systematic and interdisciplinary approach to addressing the potentially enormous impact of global risks. The ETH Risk Center combines competencies from eight departments. The Future Resilient Systems project at the Singapore ETH Center examines how critical infrastructures can be better protected in modern, innovation-driven companies. The expanded Zurich Information Security & Privacy Center (ZISC) researches information security.
News on sustainability
How can we tax electric cars without slowing down the electromobility transition?
The federal government has plans to tax electric vehicles to secure funding for road infrastructure. However, a new levy could delay the switch to electromobility. Alessio Levis explains how this dilemma could be resolved.
The mystery of cathodic corrosion protection clarified
Cathodic corrosion protection is a widely used technique for protecting steel-based infrastructure from corrosion. ETH researchers have now clarified the detailed mechanisms involved, thereby resolving a controversial issue that had preoccupied the engineering community for decades.
When stones start rolling
The landslide in Brienz (GR) in 2023 kept Switzerland on tenterhooks for weeks. Researchers from ETH Zurich, WSL and SLF used a model to provide a highly accurate blind prediction of where the sliding mass would come to rest. ETH Professor Johan Gaume explains how the model works and where its limitations lie.