TU Graz wants to be climate-neutral by 2030 and has drawn up the roadmap “Climate-Neutral TU Graz 2030” to achieve this. The recently opened “Christian Doppler lab for electromagnetic compatibility-aware robust electronic systems”, headed by Jan Hansen from the Institute of Electronics, will run until the end of the same year. In addition to research, he would also like to help TU Graz become climate-neutral, which includes certifying his laboratory as a ‘Green Lab’. The steps required for this should then serve as a blueprint for other research units that are interested in sustainable research or are also aiming for certification.
“We want to show that climate-neutral science is possible and, in my opinion, rather easy to achieve. As scientists, we solve much harder problems,” says Jan Hansen.
Working with the STS Unit
Before embarking on the certification process, he and members of his staff will carry out an in-depth analysis of where CO2 emissions can be saved most effectively. To do this, the team will look at material and energy consumption in the areas of consumables, primary energy (heating, electricity) and secondary energy (travel) and convert this into equivalent CO2 emissions. The data will be collected and analysed together with Günter Getzinger from the Science, Technology and Society (STS) Unit at TU Graz, who is currently supervising a Master's student on the topic.
“Once the main sources have been identified, we can analyse where we can make the best savings. We want to analyse different scenarios and work out what the laboratory can do to actually achieve the climate targets. In Graz, we are the first laboratory to carry out such an analysis. In the field of electrical engineering, we are probably the only one far beyond Graz,” says Jan Hansen.
