UMTEC Institut für Umwelt- und Verfahrenstechnik
+41 58 257 16 69miren.agote@ost.ch
Electrification is an important path towards the decarbonisation of transport. However, batteries cannot currently be used for air transport without further ado, unlike in passenger cars. One alternative is the use of renewable synthetic fuels, so-called SynFuels, which are produced from CO2. UMTEC is researching suitable CO2 sources and new processes for the production of SynFuels in Switzerland.
In order to balance the global climate, affordable technologies for converting CO2 into stable and storable solids that enable reliable carbon storage (CCS - carbon capture storage) are of interest. In this project, an unconventional CCS technology is being researched that allows direct conversion of CO2 to carbon even at temperatures close to ambient temperature.
Winter needs green electricity! Transferring the summer surplus of renewable energy to the winter months through seasonal storage is imperative for net-zero emissions. Scientists from SPF and UMTEC at OST are working together as part of the REVEAL project to develop a seasonal energy storage technology based on carbon-free aluminium.
SPF has the technical lead in the EU Horizon Europe project reveal. Within this project, a seasonal energy storage cycle is developed that is based on the oxidation and reduction of aluminum as an energy carrier. The main responsibilities of SPF, besides the technical lead, is the development of technologies for Alu-to-Energy conversion: the conversion of energy that is stored chemically within the aluminium into heat and power. This development is in close collaboration with the institute UMTEC of OST. REVEAL is co-funded by the European Unions Horizon Europe Programme and Swiss State Secretariate for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), and lasts from July 2022 to June 2026.
