Home: zhaw-impact

4/2022

Energy Transition

For the energy of tomorrow

Until now, power has simply flowed from our plug sockets and has not been something we have had to worry about. This cherished luxury is now in question. Issues such as a potential energy shortage and energy saving measures are moving society, while “power shortage” has been chosen as the Word of the Year 2022.

Read this article

- Main Topic
Despite landscape protection and preservation orders: the great potential of the sun

While expectations for solar energy are rising, the sense of nervousness is also on the increase. Politicians now want to launch a solar expansion offensive. This calls for a critical evaluation. ZHAW researchers show where the solutions lie.
Thomas Müller
16.12.2022

4/2022
- Opinion
Planetary Health: why food chains have to become food networks

After the most recent climate summit, we are left with no choice but to ask ourselves once more whether our planet can still be saved. And if it can, how? These are the questions addressed in the new (...)
Gisela and Tilo Hühn
16.12.2022
- Main Topic
A 90 percent power saving thanks to smart lighting

Patrik Deuss has developed intelligent luminaires that work very efficiently. What started with a Bachelor’s thesis at the ZHAW has transformed into a start-up with 42 employees five years later. By (...)
Seraina Sattler
16.12.2022
- Main Topic
Electric cars are not the perfect answer

Electric cars represent a key step forward towards more sustainable mobility for the future – all the more so, since their batteries can be put to use as buffer storage for renewable energies. A (...)
Ümit Yoker
16.12.2022
- Main Topic
Innovation attuned to the population

Developments like the energy transition can trigger concern and resistance within society. Through a novel approach to citizen engagement, ZHAW is supporting the municipality of Thalwil in gaining (...)
Stéphanie Hegelbach
16.12.2022
- Main Topic
Storing summer heat in a salt solution

ZHAW researcher Thomas Bergmann doesn’t consider it a good idea to use electricity for heating. His alternative concept makes use of thermochemical networks that can transport and store heat with (...)
Mathias Plüss
16.12.2022
- Main Topic
A unique look at the power grid

Power shortages, blackouts – what lies in store for us this winter? Petr Korba and his team simulate the European power grid in real time and identify disruption and blackout scenarios that could (...)
Christa Rosatzin
16.12.2022
- Main Topic
Storage technologies: how surplus power can be used sensibly

Surplus power can be stored temporarily in batteries or used to generate gas. In this way, fluctuations in production can be balanced out in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner, as (...)
Von Mathias Plüss
16.12.2022
- Main Topic
CO₂ is not only a climate killer, but also a raw material

The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO₂) is not only a climate killer, but also a raw material from which chemical precursors and fuels can be produced. By recovering CO₂ from the atmosphere using (...)
David Bäuerle
16.12.2022
- Main Topic
Is hydrogen the new natural gas?

The expansion of renewable energy is resulting in weather-related fluctuations in power production. To date, it has not been possible to reliably compensate for this volatility. Alternative fuels such (...)
David Bäuerle
16.12.2022
- Interview
- Main Topic
The workplace is becoming a melting pot of experiences

An onboarding coffee with the CEO, live streams of location-based projects and quiet rooms for young parents: The workplace of tomorrow will look different to traditional office life. Where and how (...)
Interview Patricia Faller

Interview by Patricia Faller
06.10.2022
- Main Topic
Hybrid diplomacy

Digital transformation has changed the requirements placed on diplomats. People with an understanding of new technologies are increasingly being sought as bridge builders to Big Tech companies.
Dominique Ursprung*
06.10.2022
- Main Topic
An agile approach to studying: eduScrum – achieving success as a team

What was once a term only known to die-hard rugby fans is now a standard approach in the IT sector – Scrum. In this context, it doesn’t refer to two sets of forwards packing down together on a rugby (...)
Thomas Schläpfer
06.10.2022
- Main Topic
A playful approach to stress relief for the over 55s

Stress can have a detrimental effect on the health of older employees and thus negatively impact a company’s productivity too. A digital coaching app is being developed with the aim of preventing (...)
Kathrin Reimann
06.10.2022
- People
His research is stabilising our energy systems

How can an energy grid be restarted again quickly after an outage? How do companies prepare their systems for disruptions? ZHAW researcher Matteo Spada is investigating the resilience of “critical (...)
David Bäuerle
06.10.2022