Technology Assessment Group
The Technology Assessment group is part of the multi-disciplinary Laboratory for Energy systems Analysis (LEA) at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and is the continuation of the former GaBE Project. Technology Assessment incorporates a comprehensive range of research areas to achieve three main objectives:
- To improve understanding and thereby enable comparisons of current energy technologies and future energy options for the electricity, heating and transport sectors based on environmental, economic and socially relevant factors.
- To provide quantitative, systematic, and interdisciplinary assessments of energy technologies and energy supply strategies through the development and application of consistent methodological frameworks and databases.
- To support rational decision-making for sustainable development in the Swiss and international energy sectors, and to communicate balanced research findings to decision-makers and stakeholders.
Latest News
Our group and lab at the PSI Tag der Offenen Tür 2022: Discovering energy systems modelling and energy sustainability
On Sunday, 23rd of October, the Paul Scherrer Institute opened its doors and invited the public to explore and experience the manyfold topics which are researched at PSI. The Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis was present at two stations. In LEA, we simulate and model how and at which cost the energy demand of the Swiss population can be covered today and in future – aiming for low greenhouse gas emissions and trying to avoid other negative impacts on environment and society. With three exhibits, we showcased for the audience which conflicting goals can arise from these goals when considering the electricity sector, heat sector, mobility, energy storage, and energy exchange with other countries for private, industrial and commercial energy supply.
Preparing for energy shortages and blackouts
Peter Burgherr is a risk researcher at PSI. In this interview he talks about possible power shortages in the coming winter and how to prepare for them.
Evaluation of European electricity supply resilience
The increasing risk of extended electricity supply disruptions and severe electricity price fluctuations strongly motivate an evaluation of electricity supply resilience. In this direction, this research proposes a multicriteria decision support framework to assess resilience at a country level, based on three major dimensions: Resist, Restabilize and Recover. In total, 35 European countries are ranked according to their performance on 17 indicators, through a synergy of MCDA methods, techniques and communication protocols. The assessment framework has been extended to incorporate the Choquet Integral method, in order to accommodate potentially interacting pairs of criteria and negate their arbitrary effects on the final evaluation results. The analysis incorporates country data from credible international databases, as well as the preference information of a European energy expert. The results are envisaged to support energy policymakers in Europe and provide guidelines and areas for improvement at a country level.
Latest Publications
- Terlouw, T., AlSkaif, T., Bauer, C., Mazzotti, M., & McKenna, R. (2023). Designing residential energy systems considering prospective costs and life cycle GHG emissions. Applied Energy, 331, 120362. doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.120362
- Reigstad, G.A., Roussanaly, S., Straus, J., Anantharaman, R., de Kler, R., Akhurst, M., Sunny, N., Goldthorpe, W., Avignon, L., Pearce, J. Flamme, S., Guidati, G., Panos, E., Bauer, C. (2022). Moving toward the low-carbon hydrogen economy: Experiences and key learnings from national case studies. Volume 8. doi: 10.1016/j.adapen.2022.100108