Making Switzerland’s road traffic fit for the future calls for research, first and foremost. In the large-scale research facilities of PSI, chemists and engineers are investigating how to improve the efficiency of motors and reduce their emissions.
“The overall transportation system of Switzerland in 2040 is efficient in all aspects.” The primary strategic goal of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) sounds good. The subordinate Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) specifies that vehicular traffic should pollute the environment less and become more energy-efficient and climate-friendly. Switzerland has set an ambitious goal for itself: to be climate-neutral by 2050.
This is a major challenge. According to the most recent “microcensus” on mobility from 2015, every person living in Switzerland travels around 24,850 kilometres per year. A high number, which also includes trips abroad. In everyday life and within Switzerland, the average per person is nearly 37 kilometres per day – and rising.
According to the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), cars, trucks, and buses produce three-fourths of the greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. From this it follows: Whether or not the nation achieves its goal depends heavily on the motors used in these modes of transportation. Their CO2 emissions must be radically reduced. This is precisely the starting point for researchers at PSI and other institutions.
> Read more on the Swiss Light Source (PSI) website
Image: Passenger cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells have a greater range than electric cars, but they are less efficient. PSI researchers want to change that.
Credit: Adobe Stock/Graphic: Stefan Schulze-Henrichs