Gaznat and EPFL sign new agreement for cutting carbon emissions

“It’s important for scientists – especially at an institute of technology like EPFL – to maintain an open dialogue and work closely with SMEs, manufacturers and other economic agents in order to speed the transition from basic research to applied research and subsequently technology transfer. That will enable scientists to develop products and systems that society can adopt,” said Martin Vetterli, EPFL president, and Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, EPFL president-designate, at the signing of the new framework agreement.

Gaznat supplies and transports natural and renewable gas across western Switzerland. In 2016, it teamed up with EPFL to set up a joint research fund for the development of carbon capture, storage and usage systems for the production of synthesis gas. The new framework agreement signed yesterday will provide up to CHF 5 million in additional funding over seven years.

Gaznat aims to supply western Switzerland with carbon-neutral energy compounds – including, but not limited to, natural gas – by 2050, in order to shift its gas distribution network and Swiss manufacturers to clean energy. Achieving this goal will entail transitioning to renewable sources and capturing and storing the residual carbon emissions. R&D projects funded under the new framework agreement will generally have to demonstrate significant potential for applications in areas contributing to Gaznat’s objectives.

“The gas industry is experiencing rapid change,” said René Bautz, the chairman of Gaznat, and Gilles Verdan, the company’s chief executive officer. “Thanks to our R&D partnership with EPFL, we can move towards our net-zero target and steadily decarbonize our industry. Chemical compounds will be pivotal in enabling a smooth energy transition concomitant with the growing use of electrical power. The advanced research being carried out at EPFL will pave the way to new systems that can be tested at our Innovation Lab in Aigle, Switzerland.”

Under the framework agreement, a program manager will be hired whose duties will include coordinating the calls for proposals and overseeing the selected R&D projects. The projects will be chosen by an eight-person scientific committee (four members from EPFL and four from Gaznat). A total of three calls for proposals will be issued under the new agreement, with the first starting in early 2025.

A promising precedent

Seventeen R&D projects have already been funded jointly by EPFL and Gaznat, through calls for proposals issued in 2016, 2018 and 2021. Gaznat has directly funded three additional projects. One of the calls for proposals funded two R&D projects: one led by Prof. Kumar Agrawal’s research group to develop carbon-capture membranes made of graphene, and another led by Prof. Andreas Züttel’s research group to develop a methanation reactor.

Gaznat opened its Innovation Lab in 2023 to study next-generation renewable-energy systems. The two R&D projects mentioned earlier were carried out at the Innovation Lab and resulted in major breakthroughs: an operational methanation reactor and effective carbon capture membranes. These systems are being tested at the Innovation Lab at an industrial scale, with the goal of developing a zero-carbon renewable gas supply.