Opportunities
If you are interested in working on a Bachelor, Semester, or Master project with us, you can find the projects we currently offer below or on external page SIROP. For further information, visit our student projects page for more insight into previous student work done with the Chair.
In case you have project ideas not currently related to any of these projects, please feel free to propose your own project and send your ideas to .
Beyond Double-Glazing, Thicker Insulation, and Heat Pumps: A Multi-Criteria Assessment for Sustainable and Social Multi-Family Building Renovations
The objective of this Master thesis is to develop a techno-economic mixed-integer optimisation tool that supports multi-objective and / or bi-level decision-making in energy-efficient renovations in multi-family buildings. By evaluating various renovation strategies, options, and technologies, the thesis aims to present solutions that balance tenant and landlord acceptance across multiple criteria, ultimately contributing to more sustainable and socially equitable housing practices.
Keywords
Techno-economic optimisation, multi-family building, energy efficiency, building renovation
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Master Thesis , ETH Zurich (ETHZ)
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Published since: 2024-10-07 , Earliest start: 2024-10-15
Organization Chair of Energy Systems Analysis
Hosts Hermann Julian , McKenna Russell
Topics Mathematical Sciences , Engineering and Technology , Economics
An analytical approach to identifying environmental and economic thresholds for energy communities
The large diversity in energy-political frameworks, energy and technology prices, climate, build-ing fabric and socioeconomic segmentation results in an equally large variation in the environ-mental and/or economic attractiveness of energy communities. Previous work in this context [1] has taken a case-study based approach to analysing the techno-economic feasibility of energy communities in different European countries. Such an approach relies on a large amount of data acquisition and is not easily transferable to other contexts. As an alternative, this project should take an analytical approach to the problem, in order to identify thresholds when the economic and/or environmental case for an energy community is given. This will require the development of an analytical mathematical framework, that reflects most or all of the influencing factors and establishes relationships between them. Key parameters are for example the electricity price and tariff, the grid fees (if applicable), reapportionment and other fees, energy demand and temporal structure, size of the energy community etc.
Keywords
Energy communities; analytical solution; economic analysis; environmental assessment
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Master Thesis , ETH Zurich (ETHZ)
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Published since: 2024-09-27 , Earliest start: 2024-10-01 , Latest end: 2025-06-30
Organization Chair of Energy Systems Analysis
Hosts McKenna Russell
Topics Mathematical Sciences , Engineering and Technology , Economics
GIS-based noise impact assessment of wind turbines
Noise from wind turbines can potentially affect the health of surrounding ecosystems and the human population. However, the potential adverse effects of wind turbine noise are often mitigated by proper planning, including setbacks from residential areas, strategic wind farm placement, and noise reduction technologies. Hence, research is needed to understand the specific effects of wind turbine noise on ecosystems and human populations and develop appropriate mitigation strategies.
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GIS, noise, wind turbine, health impact
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Master Thesis
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Published since: 2024-09-13 , Earliest start: 2024-10-01 , Latest end: 2025-04-30
Organization Chair of Energy Systems Analysis
Hosts McKenna Russell , Sacchi Romain
Topics Engineering and Technology
Assessing the future role of nuclear energy technologies in a Swiss context
The Swiss Energy Strategy has been in place in the form of the Energy Act since 2018. The strategy gives a rough framework for the ambitious transition to a climate-neutral energy system by 2050. Since this time, many studies have analysed the technical and economic feasibility of implementing this strategy with a variety of methods. Still many details of the energy transition remain unanswered or at least there is a lack of consensus in the literature. The goal of this project is specifically assess the possible future role of nuclear energy within a Swiss context, including both existing and emerging technologies and configurations. The objective is to perform a long-term scenario analysis to explore possible energy futures both with and without nuclear energy, and specifically to understand the technical and economic implications.
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Master Thesis , ETH Zurich (ETHZ)
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Published since: 2024-09-04 , Earliest start: 2024-09-08 , Latest end: 2025-07-31
Organization Chair of Energy Systems Analysis
Hosts McKenna Russell
Topics Engineering and Technology , Economics , Earth Sciences
Balancing trade-offs between resource availability, landscape quality, property price and visual impact in feasibility assessment of wind farm development
Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources (RE) is crucial for mitigating climate change and ensuring a sustainable future. Usually, the feasibility of the energy transition on the local scale is assessed by considering the technical and economic potentials of RE technologies, as well as their environmental impact. However, the plans for the energy system transition often encounter local opposition. Communities near proposed wind farms may express concerns about their visual impact, noise, or changes to their way of life. In this regard, identifying and understanding the trade-offs between different factors that may influence the local development of wind technologies is a nontrivial task.
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GIS analysis, machine learning, renewable energy
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Semester Project , Master Thesis
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Published since: 2024-08-19 , Earliest start: 2024-08-19
Organization Chair of Energy Systems Analysis
Hosts Lohrmann Alena , McKenna Russell , Chen Ruihong
Topics Engineering and Technology
Design and optimal sizing of renewable energy-powered water microgrids
Recently, microgrids have been recognized as a promising solution to tackle the rising number of power outages caused by extreme weather events affecting our cities and communities. These conditions, frequently induced by climate change, result in effects that go beyond damage to the energy infrastructure. The water systems are equally vulnerable to extreme weather events (including droughts caused by heat waves and floods), affecting the supply of clean water, the treatment of wastewater, and the management of stormwater. Recognizing the similarity of electricity and water microgrids, the project proposes to create a unified framework for renewable energy-powered water microgrids using concepts from electricity microgrids.
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Modelling, water supply, water and energy security
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Master Thesis
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Published since: 2024-08-19 , Earliest start: 2024-08-19
Organization Chair of Energy Systems Analysis
Hosts McKenna Russell , Lohrmann Alena
Topics Engineering and Technology
Geospatial and techno-economic assessment of potentials to increase run of river hydropower capacity in Switzerland
The Swiss Energy Strategy 2050 aims to achieve zero net emissions target as of 2050, which is based on four pillars: energy efficiency, renewable energy, new large-scale electricity production facilities, and for-eign energy policy. The spatially-explicit potentials of different low-carbon technologies in Switzerland are of great public, political, and research interest to understand the amount of energy that can be produced locally and the associated costs.
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renewable energy, Switzerland, hydropower, potential, low-carbon, social acceptance
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Master Thesis , ETH Zurich (ETHZ)
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Published since: 2024-08-09 , Earliest start: 2024-09-01 , Latest end: 2025-06-30
Organization Chair of Energy Systems Analysis
Hosts McKenna Russell
Topics Engineering and Technology , Economics , Earth Sciences , Policy and Political Science
Developing roadmaps towards net-zero emission Research Institutes by 2050
The Swiss Energy Strategy 2050 aims to achieve zero net emissions target as of 2050. The four leading Swiss research institutes — Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA), Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), and Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG)—are at the forefront of this en-deavour. In the context of the SCENE project, these institutes are collaboratively developing science-based roadmaps that outline the anticipated pathways to attain net-zero emissions before 2040. The tran-sition to net zero requires a multifaceted approach, encompassing technological advancements, con-sumption reductions, and market-based mechanisms for emission compensation and reduction. An es-sential component of this transition is a comprehensive CO2 emission-related cost analysis. This analysis will evaluate the financial implications of shifting energy technologies, reducing consumption, and imple-menting market-based emission compensation and reduction strategies.
Keywords
Techno-economic analysis, Switzerland, net-zero, LCA
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Master Thesis , ETH Zurich (ETHZ)
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Published since: 2024-08-09 , Earliest start: 2024-09-01 , Latest end: 2025-06-30
Organization Chair of Energy Systems Analysis
Hosts McKenna Russell
Topics Engineering and Technology , Economics , Earth Sciences , Policy and Political Science
Life cycle assessment of enhanced oil recovery
Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is often considered a solution to reduce GHG emissions from oil production and utilization [1,2]; some studies even claim net-negative emissions from EOR (‘carbon-negative oil’) [3], considering the injection of captured CO2. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a suitable method to evaluate the overall environmental burdens over the entire life cycle of an EOR system. However, many of these current LCA studies have limited system boundaries (i.e., not cradle-to-grave), thus typically excluding emissions, for example, from burning oil. Here, we aim to determine the so-called ‘solution space’ in terms of GHG impacts (and beyond) of EOR systems, considering a wide range of scenarios and CO2-sources (biogenic, fossil, etc).
Keywords
Life cycle assessment, sustainability analysis, decarbonization, negative emission technologies, carbon dioxide removal, energy transition
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Master Thesis
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Published since: 2024-07-29 , Earliest start: 2024-07-29
Organization Chair of Energy Systems Analysis
Hosts McKenna Russell , Terlouw Tom
Topics Engineering and Technology , Earth Sciences , Policy and Political Science