Sustainable and Resilient Energy for Switzerland - SURE
SURE is a research project sponsored by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy’s “SWEET” programme (Call 1-2020) and coordinated by the Paul Scherrer Institute.
SWEET – “Swiss Energy research for the Energy Transition” – is a funding programme of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). SWEET’s purpose is to accelerate innovations that are key to implementing Switzerland’s Energy Strategy 2050 and achieving the country’s climate goals.
How to reconcile resilience and sustainability criteria with the main goals of the Swiss energy sector transformation? This is the guiding question of SWEET-SURE – a research project which builds on the expertise of ten research partners and a stakeholder forum with major representatives from the Swiss energy sector. The project SURE spans over six years until 2027 and can be characterised along the following three main lines:
The energy transition from different perspectives
In view of a system transformation to a much higher share of renewable energy, SURE addresses the need for an integrated assessment of sustainability and resilience, analysing the multiple dimensions of environment, use of natural resources, public health, economics, security of supply, and social well-being.
Novel interdisciplinary analysis framework
Extending existing research in this field, a novel quantitative model- and data-based framework will be developed and applied based on combining holistic systemic approaches, comprehensive indicator databases, energy infrastructure and system modeling, and explicitly representing social and policy aspects.
Stakeholder engagement &
support to decision making
The results from the model- and data-based framework feed into a stakeholder-informed, multi-objective decision support tool to develop strategies and policy measures to design an energy system that is more robust against disruptions and allows for rapid recovery in case a disruption takes place. Ultimately, the project will provide recommendations and guidelines to stakeholders on possible strategies towards a more sustainable and resilient energy future.
