Migros and Empa are committed to climate-friendly transport
Empa and Migros have agreed on an innovation partnership. Together, they want to drive forward sustainable and innovative solutions for the transport of goods. The aim is to research new vehicle drive concepts with lower CO2 emissions and develop a fleet strategy over the next few years via the "move" platform.
Migros and Empa are jointly committed to climate-friendly transport. Electricity from photovoltaic systems or hydroelectric power plants serves as the energy source. On the one hand, this can be used to charge batteries in electric vehicles; on the other hand, the electricity can also be converted into hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles or into synthetic methane for natural gas/biogas vehicles. "move" can help companies achieve the 2-degree targets defined at the Paris Climate Conference (limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius).
The aim of the innovation partnership between Empa, the interdisciplinary research institute for materials science and technology of the ETH Domain, and Migros is, on the one hand, to support Migros in the further conversion to low-CO2 trucks and, on the other hand, to use Migros' know-how to develop the "move" of Empa to be further developed.
The "move" platform
In the coming years, the "move" demonstration and technology transfer platform will enable Empa researchers to develop a comprehensive range of new vehicle drive concepts with lower CO2 emissions, test them in practice and develop effective strategies via a fleet simulation system.
The collaboration, which will begin in early 2018, is based on an exchange between research and practice. "Only by jointly demonstrating and implementing new concepts for the mobility of the future can Switzerland's climate targets be achieved. For this, collaboration between research and industry is essential. We are therefore very much looking forward to this promising collaboration with Migros," says Brigitte Buchmann, member of the Empa directorate and head of the "Mobility, Energy and Environment" department.
Migros is aware of its responsibility as a major traffic generator. It has been able to shift a large proportion of goods transport to rail, and is the largest user of rail transport in Switzerland. It is also investing in future logistics solutions such as Cargo Sous Terrain.
More information on the topic: https://report.migros.ch/2016/lagebericht-2016/umwelt/transport-mobilitaet/
