Empa consortium awarded funding from SWEET programme
Bern, 29.09.2025 — The Net-Zero call for proposals (Addressing Hard-To-Abate Emissions to Reach the Net-Zero Target of Switzerland) as part of the SWEET funding programme has been awarded to the ACHIEVE consortium, which is led by Empa.
Certain greenhouse gas emissions are difficult to avoid, particularly in the industrial and agricultural sectors. How should Switzerland deal with these emissions in its efforts to achieve net zero? The ACHIEVE consortium will analyse possible approaches and draw up a basis for decision-making.
Nine higher education institutions and five private-sector partners are collaborating with entities from the private sector, associations and public administration on issues such as how biomass can be used sustainably in a cascade, how emissions can be reduced in agriculture and the food production system, and which circular economy approaches can contribute to industrial decarbonisation. The researchers will work with actors from civil society, politics and industry to develop specific net-zero pathways with recommendations for policy frameworks. They are to show the potential for CO2 removal from the atmosphere in Switzerland and where CO2 can be captured at the source of emission, then stored permanently in products or geological storage sites. Concrete implementation projects are also planned, for example for CO2 injection in the Swiss underground.
The call for proposals “Addressing Hard-To-Abate Emissions to Reach the Net-Zero Target of Switzerland” was jointly launched by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) and the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). The consortium was selected in a two-stage process.
The consortium is comprised as follows:
Host institution: Empa
Members: ETH Zurich, WSL, PSI, University of Geneva, HEIG-VD, SUPSI, University of Bern, University of Neuchâtel, CLB Switzerland, the Risk Dialogue Foundation, INFRAS, TBF+Partner, Storra Dynamics GmbH
Total budget: CHF 30.6 million, of which CHF 19.6 million is financed by SWEET.
SWEET (SWiss Energy research for the Energy Transition) funding programme
The SWEET programme issues rolling calls for proposals for consortium projects. Funding is provided only for consortium projects that address central research topics of the 2050 Energy Strategy and Switzerland's long-term climate strategy in a comprehensive manner. SWEET focuses on solution-oriented research and on demonstrations of the results achieved. The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) has the lead for the SWEET programme.