On June 15th, we brought together around 100 people at the Campus Energypolis in Sion for the first S4S CCUS Stakeholder Dialogue.
Participants included academics, policymakers, industry leaders, startups, and students. What struck us the most was the quality of conversations we had.
CCUS is starting to happen now. The main questions are first how to implement and scale concrete projects, and then who should use it, for what purpose, and how to ensure fair distribution of risks and benefits.
Highlights from the day:
- Keynotes from Dr. Martin Jiskra (Federal Office for the Environment FOEN) and Dr. Jasmin Kemper (IEAGHG) set the Swiss and global policy context
- Research presentations from various collaborative projects across the ETH domain — SCENE JI (Dr. Wim J. Malfait), SWEET ACHIEVE (Dr. Nathalie Casas) and NCCR Separations (Prof. Wendy Queen)
- The S4S CCUS project showcased — from scaling up graphene membranes to highly-efficient methanation of CO2, geological storage, advances in direct air capture, synthesis of value addded feedstocks, and process integration.
- A visit to DemoValais demonstrations on CCU, project kindly introduced by Prof. Jessen Page
- Industry case studies from Holcim (Dr. François Girod), KVA Linth (Dr. Daniel Marxer), Gaznat AG (Dr. Yann BENOIT), Airfix (Mr. Jonas Loetscher), and Shell (Dr. Paul-Emmanuel Just)
- A study on CCUS policy and Swiss net zero presented by Dr. Sascha NICK, followed by a lively panel discussion on CCUS and Swiss net zero 2050
- A poster competition for students and young researchers, sponsored by Nature Sustainability (many thanks to Dr. Oksana Smirnova, Associate Editor of Nature Sustainability)
- In addition, EPFL President Prof. Anna Fontcuberta-Morral opened the day and reminded us that interdisciplinary teamwork is what powers the technologies for net zero. Valais State Councilor Christophe Darbellay reinforced Valais’s commitment to being a hub for CCUS and the energy transition in Switzerland. Dr. Léonard Evéquoz explained the vibrant Campus Energypolis.
- Switzerland has the ambition, the projects, and the people. What comes next depends on all of us working together — across sectors, across institutions, across borders.
We thank every speaker, every attendee, and every partner who made the day possible. And a very special thank you to Dr. Yasmine Calisesi, Delphine Echenard, Laura Church, Dr. Eleni Stavropoulou, Dr. Marina Micari, Dr. Sascha NICK and Prof. Kumar Agrawal for making this event happen.
Setting the stage
- “Interdisciplinary teamwork and excellence: powering the technologies for net zero“, by Prof. Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, EPFL President
- “Valais as a CCUS and Net Zero Hub” by Mr. Christophe Darbellay, State Councilor, Valais
- “Energypolis: An ecosystem powering the path to Net Zero” by Mr. Léonard Evéquoz, Director, EPFL Valais
- “Carbon capture, removal and storage: Essential for the Swiss net-zero climate target“, by Dr. Martin Jiskra, Swiss Federal Office of Environment
- “Global status of CCUS and recent developments“, by Dr. Jasmin Kemper, International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas R&D Program (IEAGHG)
Presentation on the CCUS/Carbon Removal Projects in the ETH Domain
- “ETH Joint Initiative SCENE – Technical CCUS – Methane pyrolysis as part of a carbon-negative process chain” by Dr. Wim Malfait (Empa)
- SWEET Project – ACHIEVE by Dr. Nathalie Casas (Empa)
- NCCR Separations by Prof. Wendy Queen (EPFL)
EPFL Solutions4Sustainability CCUS Project (download the session presentation file)
- Brief introduction of the project (goals, team, timelines): Prof. Kumar Agrawal
- Carbon capture: Prof. Kumar Agrawal / Prof. Vivek Subramanian / Prof. Jürg Schiffmann
- Direct air capture (DAC): Prof. Wendy Queen
- Carbon utilization: MER Jan van Herle
- Carbon utilization: Prof. Xile Hu
- Carbon storage: Dr. Eleni Stavropoulou / Prof. Lyesse Laloui
- Process integration: Prof. Francois Marechal / Dr. Marina Micari
Visit to the Demonstration Site (DemoValais)
Case studies of ongoing CCUS projects
- “Building a net zero future, our vision“, by Dr. Francois Girod, Head of Circular Economy, Holcim
- “Full-Scale CCS at a Swiss Waste-to-Energy plant – opportunities and challenges“, by Dr. Daniel Marxer, Head of CO₂ Competence Center, KVA Linth
- “Enabling Seasonal Storage through Power-to-Gas. Lessons from the GreenGas Project“, by Dr. Yann Benoit, Director of Gas Transmission Network, Gaznat
- “A first commercial Swiss BECCS project in 2026: crucial step towards scaling CCS in Switzerland“, by Jonas Lötscher, Managing Director, Airfix
- “Technical challenges and digital opportunities in post-combustion CO₂ capture“, by Dr. Paul-Emmanuel Just, Team Lead Novel CO₂ Capture Technology Maturation, Shell
- “CCUS policy and Swiss net zero“: Dr. Sascha Nick, EPFL
Panel discussion: “CCUS contribution to Swiss net zero by 2050, and what is needed to ensure goals will be met?” – moderated by Dr. Yasmine Calisesi; panelists:
- Mr. Nicolas Herold, Syngenta
- Dr. Nathalie Casas, Empa
- Dr. Martin Jiskra, SFOE
- Dr. Jasmin Kemper, IEA
- Prof. Kumar Agrawal, EPFL