SPEED2ZERO

Contact: Dr. Can Cui and Dr. Enrico Ampellio

Switzerland is facing a triple threat: climate change poses risks to society and energy security, requiring a 50% decarbonization by 2030 which the country is not on track to achieve; the energy transition for decarbonization may cause power shortages and faces complications from the planned nuclear power plant shutdown; and loss of biodiversity jeopardizes human health and the sustainable production of resources, with trade-offs and controversies surrounding potential solutions like natural gas. In a three-year research timeframe (2023-2025), SPEED2ZERO will generate crucial scientific insight and develop technology, toolboxes, scenarios, and action plans with an interactive fruition to enable a sustainable transformation to a net zero Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and biodiversity-positive Switzerland. It specifically targets immediate action to halve GHG by 2030, preparing for the required infrastructure, ensuring a resilient energy system, and securing biodiversity. Because net zero GHG, energy, biodiversity, and climate are so tightly interlinked, SPEED2ZERO will focus specifically on the interactions between them, thereby addressing multiple strategic areas of the call.

The RRE group contributes to SPEED2ZERO by developing and using special tools focused on the factors that can hinder the roll-out of net zero pathways, i.e. the supply chain of key technological devices (Work Package 1) and the resilience of a sustainable energy system to climate change and extreme weather events (Work Package 3). WP1 involves a dedicated module to account for global production capacity of renewable devices and policy-driven adoption rates, hence setting proper constraints for the energy models. WP3 regards the set-up of a multi-vector energy system model for Europe coupled with a detailed Swiss model, and equipped with computational capabilities and methodologies able to account for weather impacts and their uncertainty. The final scope of the RRE role within SPEED2ZERO is to identify, propose and deliver to decision-makers measures that can accelerate the Swiss energy system transition to 2030.