news from the lab 2017

Researchers from EPFL, together with other institutes, have developed a robotic eel that swims through contaminated water to find the source of the pollution.

If European countries cooperated better in the field of wind energy, wind power output would fluctuate less. This is the conclusion reached by a group of energy and climate researchers at ETH Zürich and Imperial College London, who for the first time have combined a long-term analysis of predominant weather patterns with Europe-wide wind electricity generation.

Researchers from the National Research Programme "Resource Wood" have developed a type of concrete that largely consists of wood. The building material offers the construction industry new possibilities and is based in large part on renewable resources. Houses can be made of wood, as they were in the past - or of concrete, as they are today.

In the past, climate scientists have tended to underestimate the risk of a co-occurrence of heatwave and drought.

The disappearance of a large part of the terrestrial megafauna such as saber-toothed cat and the mammoth during the ice age is well known. Now, researchers at the University of Zurich and the Naturkunde Museum in Berlin have shown that a similar extinction event had taken place earlier, in the oceans.

How can we organize energy supply in the post-fossil era? How can energy be stored efficiently? And how can we organize distribution as economically and conveniently as possible? Empa's research platform 'ehub? is searching for answers to these questions.

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) The hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica has more far-reaching consequences than previously assumed. A study by Bernese climate researchers has now shown that it even affects precipitation in the tropical regions of the Pacific, 10,000 kilometres away.

An EPFL study has for the first time measured the impact of climate change on alpine streams, and the results are quite worrying: after a low-snow winter, these streams release more carbon dioxide than they absorb. Numerous researchers are looking at the impact of climate change on the Alps. And one of the most obvious effects is the low snowfall observed in recent years.

EPFL scientists have built the first Earth-abundant and low-cost catalytic system for splitting CO2into CO and oxygen, an important step towards achieving the conversion of renewable energy into hydrocarbon fuels.

EPFL, in association with the School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg, the Geneva School of Art and Design and the University of Fribourg, is taking part in the 2017 international Solar Decathlon competition.

EPFL scientists have built a low-cost and ultra-stable perovskite solar cell that has been running at 11.2% efficiency for over a year, without loss in performance.

Mühleberg is the first Swiss nuclear power plant slated for decommissioning in 2019. EPFL researchers have shown that its shutdown will lower water temperatures in the Aar River and Lake Biel, and could affect waterways as far away as Germany. When the Mühleberg nuclear power station goes offline in 2019, the waters of the Aar River and Lake Biel will cool down.

EPFL researchers have created an online platform for monitoring the genetic diversity of livestock and the sustainability of animal farming in Switzerland. This project, which was developed in partnership with the Federal Office for Agriculture, could serve as a model for other countries. "With the GenMon platform, our aim was to develop a practical tool for automating the process of monitoring livestock in Switzerland," explains Solange Duruz, a PhD student in the Laboratory of Geographic Information Systems (LASIG) and lead author of the article, which appeared in the journal PLOS One .

Coral reefs in the Red Sea's Gulf of Aqaba can resist rising water temperatures. If they survive local pollution, these corals may one day be used to re-seed parts of the world where reefs are dying.

An ETH study explores why the increase in extreme precipitation is not the same across every region. This paves the way toward improved regional climate projections. Most climate scientists agree that heavy rainfall will become even more extreme and frequent in a warmer climate. This is because warm air can hold more moisture than cold air, resulting in heavier rainfall.

For alpine plant species, climate change presents a special challenge: To escape increased greenhouse warming, the species have to move to a higher-altitude habitat.

Publishing in Nature, EPFL scientists show how light affects perovskite film formation in solar cells, which is a critical factor in using them for cost-effective and energy-efficient photovoltaics. Perovskites are materials of immense interest in solar energy technology lately, as they promise to bring down the cost of solar cells to very low levels.

A team of EPFL and CSEM researchers in Neuchâtel has featured in Nature Energy with an astonishing new method for the creation of crystalline solar cells. These cells have electrical contacts at the back, which removes all shadowing at the front. Thanks to this new inexpensive approach, the fabrication process is greatly simplified, with efficiencies in the laboratory already surpassing 23%.

Even small changes in global temperature can trigger a migration of the tropical rain belt. This can also lead to climate change, as described by a team of researchers from ETH Zurich and other universities. The tropical rain belt, also known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), is in a state of constant migration.

Using a special multi-angle camera, EPFL researchers have gained important insights into the structure of snowflakes. Their aim is to improve the accuracy of snowfall measurements and winter weather forecasts. Imagine taking pictures of thousands of snowflakes from three different angles with a specialized instrument installed at an altitude of 2,500 meters.