Cleantech Switzerland - AVA-CO2

Spring | 2011
Cleantech Switzerland
in cooperation with
and Liechtenstein

Swiss Village – The Swiss zone in Masdar
Switzerland is participating in one of the most daring urban
projects currently under construction. Some 170 companies are
preparing a Swiss Village in Masdar, the ecocity at the outskirts
of Abu Dhabi. Masdar wants to be the fi rst city in the world
that reduces its CO2 emissions to zero, uses renewable energy
only, produces no waste and does not allow fossil fuel-powered
cars. It will host the newly created International Renewable
Energy Agency.
The Swiss Village is to be located between the Masdar Institute
of Science and Technology – which has already been fi nished –
and the Masdar Headquarters in the heart of Masdar. The Swiss
Village is to offer a balanced mix of uses with offi ces, research
labs and light manufacturing facilities, restaurants and shops, a
Swiss business hub, a Swiss private school, and apartments, as
well as the Swiss Embassy and an embassy residence.
Everything is Made in Switzerland. Masdar has selected Bob
Gysin + Partner, a Zurich-based fi rm, for the design of the fi rst
T-LINK is specialised in
Swiss Village Complex. Gysin designed the Forum Chriesbach,
headquarters of the Swiss Federal Institute for Water Research
in addition to other outstanding projects. The Swiss Village
will be built by Swiss companies to Swiss quality and Minergie
standards.
The Swiss Village is supported at the highest political level
in the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland. The opening is
scheduled for 2015.
Swiss Village Abu Dhabi
c/o Wenger & Vieli
Attn. Mr. Daniel Urech
Dufourstrasse 56
CH-8008 Zurich Switzerland
Member Relations:
member.relations@swiss-village.com . p: +41 58 750 0507
EXPO SERVICE . TRADE FAIR MARKETING . EXPORT PACKING . INDUSTRIAL and PROJECT FREIGHT FORWARDING
Our EXPO SERVICE contains international exhibition freight forwarding, project
management for joint pavilions as eg. «SWISS Pavilions» and road shows. T-LINK is
the Swiss Agent for various shows and the offi cial representative for “Deutsche Messe
Hannover” in Switzerland.
From smaller machines up to heavy-lift cargo our PROJECT TEAM plans and coordinates
your transports of any kind. In our packing facilities next to Zurich Airport and in Maienfeld
we are specialised in EXPORT PACKING including a.o. high tech corrosion protection.
20 years of experience is your guarantee for a suitable handling of your packing and
freight forwarding needs.
We provide our clients with a reliable time and money saving “ONE-STOP-SHOP-
PING”.
T-LINK MANAGEMENT LTD
Kirchstrasse 42 Contact persons:
CH-8807 Freienbach Carl A. Ziegler
fon +41 (0) 43 288 18 88 Viviane Mor
fax +41 (0) 43 288 18 99 fairspace@t-link.ch
www.t-link.ch
Winner of the $2.5 million X-Prize:
MonoTracer e by PERAVES, a member
of swisscleantech.
The race to new frontiers
The climate conference in Cancun in December brought climate
policy back on track. The fear that international climate policy
would crumble under the competing interests of numerous
national climate policies appears to have been dispelled. This is
good news for the cleantech sector. The billions of investments
in renewable energies, energy effi ciency, resource effi ciency and
environmental protection have been well spent.
The impact that these investments can have is aptly shown
in the case of Basel: The canton of Basel-City opted to embrace
renewable energies over nuclear power nearly three decades
ago, and the results are evident for all to see: The energy produced
in Basel today comes entirely from renewable energy
sources.
Oftentimes, these investments are only peripherally related to
cleantech in the beginning; they are usually more concerned
with solving a specifi c set of problems. This can be seen in the
example of Geneva, which is wedged between the Jura Mountains
and the lake of Geneva. The streets are so congested that
there is no more space for the traffi c to grow. So the canton fell
back on an old means of transportation: The tram. Sustainable
transportation was borne out of necessity.
For international climate policy to succeed, it will have to
be implemented in millions of small decisions on the ground the
world over. Sometimes the impetus can come from politics, as it
did in Basel. Sometimes the impetus can come from a common
initiative between the state and the business community, as was
the case with the LIFE Climate Foundation in Liechtenstein.
But the solutions themselves must come from the business
community. Innovative companies are already today developing
products and services to reduce our global footprint.
This is demonstrated by the Zug-based AVA CO2. They were
the fi rst to transform a 100-year old process onto an industrial
scale: Their new facility in Karlsruhe, Germany, converts bio-
mass into biocoal in just a matter of hours
– a process that can be performed anywhere
in the world wherever large amounts of biomass
accrue and clean energy is required.
This is demonstrated by Cobiax as well,
which also happens to be based in Zug. The
producer of light weight concrete is reducing
by up to one third the amount of CO2
emitted when constructing buildings – and
without increasing building costs.
The economy will have to assume its
part as a responsible member of society.
Managers who only have their company’s
profi t or loss in mind – or even worse, their
own bonuses – will have betrayed their profession. Many companies
realize this, and ethics will play a role in management
decisions.
But this responsibility doesn’t end at a country’s borders.
The business association swisscleantech understands this and is
one of the driving forces behind the Global Cleantech Cluster
Association. Competition and collaboration are not a contradiction:
Building a sustainable economy worldwide will provide
room for many clusters and many companies. The race to new
frontiers, like in 19th century America, is underway today.
This holds true for companies: Either they are in the race
or the future will pass them by. Whoever wants to slam on
their brakes is welcome to do so. But the earth will continue
to rotate.
Steffen Klatt is Editor of Cleantech Switzerland and
Liechtenstein.
Cleantech Switzerland | Editorial | 5

Table of content
3
Editorial
The race to new frontiers
5
Highlight
The fi rst solar boat expedition
around the world
6
Interview with Guy Morin: Basel
wants to stay on top
8
Nature & Agriculture
From greenhouse gas to raw
material
10
Nature & Agriculture
Interview with Bertram Anderer
and Jan Vyskocil: Where biomass
becomes coal
11
People & Society
Interview with Simon Tribelhorn
and Sven Braden: Small country, big
impact
12
People & Society
Uneasy friendship between money
and morality
14
Energy
Basel relies on renewable energy
16
Building & Urbanism
Interview with Urs Rieder: Simpler
renovations with CO2 savings
17
Building & Urbanism
Interview with Hugo Meier and
Karsten Pfeffer: Award for material
e f fi c i e n c y
18
Building & Urbanism
Lower energy consumption means
bigger business
20
Materials & Production
Wanted: new materials
22
Materials & Production
Interview with Shawn Lesser:
Cleantech clusters connecting
globally
23
Mobility &Logistics
Interview with Frank Loaker:
Traveling further on electricity
24
Mobility &Logistics
Geneva becomes mobile with the
tram
26
Export Platform Cleantech
Switzerland
Interview with Rolf Häner: “It
shows that we are on the right path”
27
Swiss Village
Interview with Bob Gysin: Building
with the climate in mind
28
swisscleantech
Interview with Nick Beglinger:
Cleantech is on the upswing
30
Success Story
Endress+Hauser: Cutting-edge
technology reaches new heights
IMPRESSUM
Concept, text and design:
Café Europe Textagentur GmbH
Neugasse 30
Postfach 445
CH-9004 St. Gallen
www.ce-sg.com
Editor: Steffen Klatt:
steffen.klatt@ce-sg.com
For additional copies, please contact
Café Europe Textagentur GmbH.
Print: Rankwoog Print GmbH Zofi ngen
neutral
Printed Matter
No. 01-10-218688 – www.myclimate.org
© myclimate – The Climate Protection Partnership
Principal Sponsors:
Cover pictures:
Front: First solar boat expedition around
the globe (PlanetSolar).
Back: Around the world with the zeroemission
electric motorbike, the Zerotracer
(Zerotracer).
Pictures: planetsolar (1); C. Mycoskie (1);
Coop (1); IWB (Industrielle Werke Basel)
(2); Zerotracer (1); Cobiax (1); Bombardier
(1); Photothèque de Genève Tourisme
(2); Bob Gysin + Partner BGP (1);
BikeTec (1); Schweizer Alpen-Club SAC
(1); Endress+Hauser (1); Tourismus Liechtenstein
(1); AVA-CO2 Schweiz AG (2);
Markus Binder (1); Peraves (1); Nolaris
(1); Walter Meier AG (1); Zehnder Group
(1); Renggli AG (1); Image Schweiz (1);
All portraits: zvg.
The fi rst solar boat expedition around the world
The TÛRANOR PlanetSolar is a pioneer for sustainable energy technology on water.
The solar-powered catamaran illustrates the potential of environmentally responsible
transportation. The boat departed on the first solar boat expedition around the world
at the end of September 2010. It visited the UN Climate Summit as part of its tour.
The TÛRANOR PlanetSolar is currently the largest solar boat in
the world. It was built to fulfi ll a dream of Raphaël Domjan from
Neuchâtel, Switzerland: To achieve the fi rst round-the-world
sea voyage powered by solar energy. “We want to prove that it
is possible. We want to be the Phileas Fogg of the 21st century.
But beyond Jules Verne’s dream, our project is to resolutely serve
humanity and the environment to overtake the possibilities of
fossil fuels, called classical energies.”
Highly motivated experts have cooperated in order to realize
Domjan’s vision. PlanetSolar compiled an international team
of physicists, engineers and boat builders, among others. Six
people form the crew for the world tour.
PlanetSolar’s ambition is to be a symbolic step towards a
better world. With this project, the team intends fi rstly to show
that current technologies aimed at improving energy effi ciency
are reliable and effective, and secondly to advance scientifi c
research in the fi eld of renewable energy.
“During our round-the-world tour, we have to manage whatever
energy nature gives us,” says Domjan. “We will have to
constantly optimize our route and speed in line with the available
sunshine and the medium-range weather forecast.”
On September 27, 2010, TÛRANOR PlanetSolar began its
voyage around the world in Monaco with stopovers along the
equator, where sunshine is at its peak. By the end of its 50,000
km voyage, the crew will have crossed the Atlantic, the Panama
Canal, the Pacifi c, the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal to
reach the Mediterranean. It stopped at the UN Climate Summit
in Cancun in Mexico in December 2010. Doris Leuthard,
President of Switzerland and Environment Minister, visited the
boat and crew while there.
The 31-meter-long solar catamaran was built by the Knierim
shipyard in Kiel, Germany. It is equipped with 536,65 square
meters of photovoltaic solar panels. A total of 825 modules,
equipped with 38,000 individual photovoltaic cells, are installed
on the deck. The energy is stored in six blocks containing twelve
batteries each. Four electric engines – two per drive shaft – have
a maximum output of 120 kW and an energy effi ciency of over
90 percent. The energy yielded and stored is converted into
highly effective forward propulsion by the drive technology
specifi cally developed for this project by the engineering company
drivetek AG in Ipsach/Biel, Switzerland.
The fi rst feasibility study was done in 2004 and 2005. The
adventure started in September 2009 with the inauguration of
the PlanetSolar Village at Yverdon-les-Bains in Switzerland.
Construction began in January 2009 in Kiel, where it was
launched on March 31, 2010. The name TÛRANOR is derived
from the Lord of the Rings Saga of J.R.R. Tolkien and translates
into “The Power of the Sun”.
“We are on our way to demonstrating that motorized shipping
can work without fuel”, says Immo Ströher, entrepreneur
and owner of the boat. Ströher owns the energy management
company Immosolar GmbH in Hessen, Germany. He also owns
the Swiss enterprise Rivendell AG, whose task is to develop
a meaningful utilization concept when the scheduled circumnavigation
has been completed.
“I want to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve commercially
realistic earnings over the long term with advanced
technologies.”
TÛRANOR PlanetSolar is sponsored by the Swiss Confederation.
www.planetsolar.org
SWISSMEM IS BRINGING PLANETSOLAR TO ABU DHABI
Swissmem is making it possible for the crew of PlanetSolar to
come to the World Future Energy Summit in January 2011 in Abu
Dhabi. Swissmem is the association of Swiss engineering, electrical
and metal industries and associated technology-oriented sectors.
Established in 1883, it represents the interests of companies from
the largest industrial sector in Switzerland. This sector employs approximately
330,000 employees and contributes more than 35 percent
of the goods exported from Switzerland. www.swissmem.ch
Cleantech Switzerland | Highlight | 7

Basel wants to stay on top
Basel wants to build a Cleantech cluster together with the Upper Rhine Region. The
first-ever Global Energy Basel, which will take place in January, is a step in this direction.
The canton of Basel-City should once again assume a pioneering role, according to
Guy Morin, President of the Government Council. He can rely on three decades of sustainable
energy policy to help him accomplish this.
Interview: Steffen Klatt
Climate, energy and sustainability are global themes. What
can a “city canton” such as Basel do?
Guy Morin: More and more people live in urban areas. In
Switzerland, this is between two-thirds and three-quarters of
the population. According to some calculations, between 70
and 80 percent of CO2 emissions are caused by urban centers.
Cities have to act.
This is why we joined forces with cities around the globe
and became a member of the C40 group. This group provides a
forum for cities to exchange best practices in energy and climate
policies. Whereas countries still speak about CO2 reduction
targets and compensation measures, cities are already discussing
concrete steps to reduce CO2 emissions.
What are Basel’s priorities?
Basel assumed a pioneering role in energy policy. After the discussions
over the Kaiseraugst nuclear power plant at the end of
the 1970s – which was eventually not built – the Basel constitution
was revised to demand that the canton to turn away from
8 | Cleantech Switzerland
nuclear energy and work against investing in nuclear power
plants. The revised constitution also requires the canton to support
renewable energies, work towards a decentralized energy
supply, promote economical energy consumption and use new
technologies. Since the 1980s, Basel has had an environmental
severance tax and since 1998, an incentive tax. Each year,
we have around 10 to 12 million Swiss francs at our disposal
to initiate pioneering projects. One example of this was our
efforts to build a geothermal power plant. Although this project
failed, it was nevertheless a good learning experience. We are
now investing in a wood-fi red cogeneration plant, biogas facilities
and electric mobility, to name a few. The city’s sanitation
department is experimenting with a hydrogen-powered street
cleaning vehicle. The lion’s share of this money, however, goes
into energy-effi cient building renovations.
Do Basel’s property owners receive larger subsidies to
renovate than in the rest of Switzerland?
We are increasing the amount of federal government subsidies
by using resources from the canton. When someone renovates
a portion of a house (for example, windows, roof, façade),
GUY MORIN
was born in 1956 and became the first directly elected President of
the Government of the Canton Basel-City (Mayor of Basel) in 2009.
He was first elected to the government in 2004 and was responsible
for the Department of Justice. A physician by profession, he has been
politically active since the early 1980s. He is member of the Green
Party. www.bs.ch
they receive around 10 percent of the investment costs from
government resources. When someone renovates an entire
house (in one or more steps), they receive a further 10 to
20 percent from the canton, depending on the quality of the
renovation. In addition, a portion of the renovation costs can
be deducted from one’s taxes. The Basel Kantonalbank also
supports energy-effi cient renovations: Homeowners are eligible
for more favourable credit rates. Moreover, homeowners can
turn to energy coaches free of charge. On average, a renovated
building requires around two-thirds less energy. But there are
also some impressive exceptions: One recently renovated building
has seen energy consumption savings of 93 percent
Has this energy policy been worth it for Basel until now?
Despite stable economic growth between 1990 and 2004, end
energy consumption has declined by around 20 percent in
Basel as opposed to other municipalities where it has increased.
Power consumption increased by around 8.5 percent between
1998 and 2007, while incidentally that fi gure is 14 percent for
the rest of Switzerland. These fi gures are all the more impressive
when one considers that Basel has on average around 2.5 times
more gross domestic product that the rest of Switzerland. As
owner of the Industrielle Werke Basel [the city’s utility company,
stk], the canton has said that it wants to obtain 100 percent of
its energy from renewable energy sources at competitive prices.
Last year we were at 98 percent. In addition, there is an extensive,
cost-covering subsidy for the supply of solar power, which
is attracting investors from outside the canton.
How did Basel’s industry sector react to this energy policy?
This is always a discussion because promoting renewable energies
raises the cost of electricity. However, we recently had a
motion in parliament demanding a doubling of the severance
tax. Until now, the city government has not yet exhausted its
legal scope to increase the severance tax. We also want to continue
to provide competitive energy prices, which we can do
because we invested in hydroelectric power plants a long time
ago. However, these will run out after 2030.
Is this why the IWB is investing so heavily in solar and wind
power plants around Europe?
Yes, because it is clear that we need a sustainable investment.
Basel is hosting the first-ever Global Energy Basel. Why?
We regard this as a promising economic sector. This is cleantech,
renewable energies, energy effi ciency, energy effi cient construction
and renovation. In doing so, small and medium-sized
companies will benefi t. This conforms to the canton’s policy,
but also to that of the entire Upper Rhine Region.
… the neighbors in Baden and also Alsace?
Precisely. We want to build a sustainable and forward-looking
cluster. As an exhibition and congress location, Global Energy
Basel has the potential to promote the exchange of experience.
It can also encourage debate among cities worldwide. This is our
contribution to the C40: The consulting company Ecos and other
private companies have developed know-how together with the
Swiss State Secretariat for the Economy, the World Bank and
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD), such as fi nancing renewable energy and CO2-saving
technologies in developing countries. Cities in developing countries
are presenting their projects to us and asking which requirements
they have to fulfi ll in order to access funding.
Cities have long suffered from the exodus of high tax paying
residents. This trend is now reversing. Is this also happening
in Basel?
We have seen signs that the trend has also reversed for Basel.
After many years, we are fi nally increasing our tax base once
again. Demographic statistics are also pointing in this direction.
Since 2007, we are once again experiencing population
growth. At the low point of the exodus, Canton Basel-City had
only 187,000 residents; we now have 192,000. Polls indicate
that less and less Basel residents want to move away.
What makes Basel more attractive?
For one, it is the general trend to return to centers with their
short distances. For another, Basel has invested heavily in
public transportation. Basel has set aside areas for attractive
residential buildings. The city facilitates an environmentally
friendly lifestyle. For example, 52 percent of households do not
have a car, and the percentage of bicycles or the percentage
of people using car-sharing services is higher than elsewhere
in Switzerland. Finally, with respect to building regulations,
Basel-City has the most stringent requirements for building
insulation and technology of all cantons – which in turn benefi
ts the residents.
As a member of the Green Party and as President of the Government
Council, are you satisfi ed with your canton’s efforts?
We are doing a lot. Basel was and is a pioneer. Individual
cantons and cities have in the meantime overtaken us. The
city of Zurich also has a very sustainable environmental and
energy policy. But we want to remain a forerunner and pioneer
in Switzerland.
GLOBAL ENERGY BASEL
Global Energy Basel, the sustainable infrastructure summit, will take
place for the fi rst time on January 11 and 12, 2011. Presented by Guy
Morin, Mayor of Basel, and Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York and
Chairman of the C40, several hundred investors, representatives of cities,
specialists and scientists are coming to Basel to discuss the future
of fi nancing a sustainable future for cities.
Climate change, scarcity of resources, energy security and population
growth will require massive investment in infrastructure. This presents
opportunities for cities, project developers and investors alike. Global
Energy Basel aims to bring different stakeholders together to foster a
better future for cities. www.globalenergybasel.com
Cleantech Switzerland | 9

From greenhouse gas to raw material
Carbon dioxide is driving climate change. But this greenhouse gas can also be transformed
into a raw material. In Switzerland, several companies are using biomass to
create coal out of carbon dioxide. The result: Hydrothermally-produced coal can be
used to produce energy, and biochar can improve soil quality.
Alexa Scherrer
It’s really a vineyard: The Delinat Institute for Ecology and
Climate Farming) in Canton Valais has its origins in an organic
vineyard. Today, one if its research areas is the production
of biochar, which can be used as an ecological, sustainable
substance to enhance soil quality in agricultural operations.
The biochar consists of pure carbon, according to Hans-Peter
Schmidt, Director of the Delinat Institute. In contrast to biomass,
from which it is produced, biochar does not decay.
Slowing down climate change
In April 2010, the Delinat Institute went one step further:
Together with the fi rm Swiss Biochar, it brought into operation
in Lausanne Europe’s fi rst industrial biochar facility for use
in agriculture, horticulture and plant protection. The biomass,
such as green waste or manure, is heated to between 350 and
800 degrees Celsius. This causes the carbon compounds, which
the biomass holds together, to break apart. Carbon is recovered
in its clean form as biochar and can be introduced into the soil
where it remains stable for thousands of years. “This method
10 | Cleantech Switzerland | Nature & Agriculture
provides the ideal opportunity for the CO2 that plants assimilated
from the atmosphere to be stored in the soil, which can
therefore slow down climate change,” says Schmidt. The facility
is energy-autonomous: The main energy source is the biomass
itself, which is created when gas released during pyrolysis is
captured and combusted. “One ton of green waste removes
around 500 kilograms of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
and produces 400 kilowatt hours of heat”, says Schmidt.
Making the desert green with biochar
Biochar is not used as an actual fertilizer, but rather as a soil
conditioner. Humus is also produced this way, which has a
positive impact on CO2 balance, too. “When humus production
is increased by only one percent, one hundred tons of
CO2 per hectare is captured,” says Schmidt. But biochar has
many more advantages: “It acts as a sponge, absorbing water
and nutrients, and it can be applied according to the needs of
the plants,” according to Schmidt. Soil with biochar responds
to changes in climate and can improve soil fertility, resulting
in more consistent plant growth and thus a more consistent
harvest. “The harvest is not doubled with biochar, but the
entire system is improved through the reorganization of soil,”
he enthusiastically adds. Schmidt goes even one step further:
“With regards to desert greening, biochar is one of the most
effi cient tools available.”
In the beginning of 2010, the Delinat Institute began an
experiment using biochar in 100 small gardens; 320 more
gardens will be added in 2011.
Coal from wet biomass
AVA CO2 in Zug is moving in a different direction. It is the
fi rst company to successfully make the leap from research
into the industrial application of hydrothermal carbonization
(HTC). The process itself was discovered in 1913 by Friedrich
Bergius, who was later awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
In this process, biomass is heated up as an aqueous solution
and by applying heat, pressure and citric acid as a catalyst,
energy is released from the biomass. What remains is carbon.
Technology can achieve in a matter of hours what nature took
millions of years.
At the end of October 2010, AVA CO2 opened the fi rst
industrial-scale HTC plant in Karlsruhe, Germany. “Implemented
on an industrial scale, HTC opens up entirely new perspectives
for the reduction of greenhouses gases and the production
of renewable energies,” says Peter Achermann, Chairman
of the Board of AVA CO2. During the production of “AVA blue
coal”, so much excess heat is generated that not all of it can
be fed into the process; it can also be used for district heating.
According to the company, the process has other advantages,
too. In wet processes, desiccation of basic materials – which
is costly – is rendered redundant. Furthermore, the plant can
be fed a wide range of materials: Whether sludge from beer
production or plant waste from orange groves, HTC is highly
practical wherever large amounts of wet biomass accrue and
energy is also required.
Far less volume than biogas
Biomass is already being used for energy production today, as
is evidenced by the many biogas facilities. But HTC coal offers
an attractive alternative because it stores energy in a much
smaller volume. “The stored volume of hydrocoal for 1000
kWh amounts to 0.11m3, as opposed to biogas which requires
164m3,” says Rolf Krebs from the Institute for Environment
and Natural Resources at the Zurich University for Applied
Sciences in Wädenswil. His institute is also involved in the
industrial production of HTC-coal. “We are working on the
fi rst industrial facility in Switzerland,” says Krebs. One of their
research areas is the usage of process waters, whose valuable
substances should be made available
Coal in Switzerland
Switzerland is a country where coal is not present as a natural
resource, and yet it is increasingly becoming a center for the
natural production of coal. The institute in Wädenswil organized
a conference on hydrothermal carbonization in October
2010, attended by the most important industry partners from
across Europe. The hottest topic was how to implement the
fi rst industrial-scale facilities. In this respect, AVA CO2 and
the Delinat Institute are already one step ahead of the competition.
AVA CO2`s HTC plant in
Karlsruhe, Germany.
Cleantech Switzerland | Nature & Agriculture | 11

Betram Anderer, 1960, Co-CEO and Founding Partner of AVA-CO2, has
founded various companies in the field of simulations software and fluid
dynamics since 1993. Prior to that, he worked in Europe and the USA for various
companies in the IT sector such as Compaq, HP and Silicon Graphics.
Interview: Ulrich Glauber
How does the production of coal from biomass through
hydrothermal carbonization (HCT) work?
Bertram Anderer: The process was researched in 1913 by Friedrich
Bergius, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
in 1931. The biomass is mixed and pre-heated in an aqueous
solution – this is the “hydro” part. Then it is heated to
approximately 200 degrees – this is the “thermal” part. In the
process the water molecules are removed from the biomass’s
carbohydrate molecules. What remains is the carbon, or the
“carbonization” part of the process. This occurs when the plant
residues are heated to a minimum temperature of 200 degrees
Celsius under a pressure of around 20 bars (290 psi).
Jan Vyskocil: Ultimately, biomass is converted into clean coal under
pressure and heat within a few hours through a chemical process.
What are its greatest advantages?
Bertram Anderer: The greatest advantage is that the HTC process
removes nearly 100% of the carbon from the plant residues.
Other technologies (such as biogas) have a much lower carbon
effi ciency factor HTC is by far the most effi cient way to produce
energy out of biomass. As a simplifi cation when you burn wood,
for example, you use less than half of the carbon stored in the
wood to produce energy. Clearly less effi cient than using HTC
coal. It’s by the way the same with conventional biogas plants.
Jan Vyskocil: Moreover, the process is exothermic. That means
that it gives off more energy than is required for the process.
The AVA-CO2 HCT process is also robust – that is, very reliable.
Because we can use standard components, the HTC plant is
inexpensive compared to other technologies.
Bertram Anderer: The biggest problem with processing biomass is
its transport. And so it is much easier and more effi cient to build
decentralized plants for the HTC process – either directly at the
location where the biowaste occurs or in close proximity to it.
Sven Jan Vyskocil,1964, Co-CEO and Founding Partner of AVA-C02, spent 12
years as Managing Director of the Spanish Inditex Group (ZARA), which developed
into the world’s largest textile group during his time there. Prior to that,
he worked for four years at Marc Rich AG in Zug. www.ava-co2.com
Where biomass becomes coal
Since the end of October, the world’s first industrial-size HTC plant that produces coal
from biomass has been in operation in Karlsruhe, Germany. The Zug-based AVA-CO2
has become the first company to successfully transform this 100-year old process onto
an industrial scale. The process is best suited to locations where both large amounts of
biomass accrue and clean energy is required.
12 | Cleantech Switzerland | Nature & Agriculture
How does one use the biocoal?
Bertram Anderer: The simplest application is combustion for
thermal production, which in turn can be used for heat or electricity
production. Our product, however, has other uses too just
like activated carbon. We have noticed that our biocoal has a
very similar atomic structure to conventional activated carbon.
We are verifying this. If so, the biocoal would also be suitable
as a starting product for carbon black – a dye used in the tire
manufacturing industry. And when we don’t fully carbonize
our product, it is possible to mix it with normal soil, activate
it in a separate process and use it as a nutrient enrichment for
soil enhancement. The product could thus reduce the use of
fertilizer and play an important part in soil quality enhancement.
Even more, BioChar could serve as a CO2 sink making
the overall HTC process CO2-negative..
Where else can plants be built?
Bertram Anderer: The most logical place is for companies in
the food processing industry, which produce waste materials
that they can no longer use. Our plant in Karlsruhe was
designed to use biowaste mainly from breweries. Large amounts
of brewer’s grain and sludge arise during the production of beer.
Most of the brewer’s spent grain is thrown away, though it has
a large amount of carbon and is easy therefore to process for
our purposes. It would also be ideal to have an HTC plant at
the end of the brewing process; the carbon could be extracted
from all the liquid biomass – grains, yeast, sludge – and used to
satisfy the energy needs of the plant, thereby replacing energy
produced by oil or gas. And you wouldn’t see this by looking at
the outside of the premises, only be glancing at the electricity
bill and CO2 balance of the brewery.
Jan Vyskocil: This opens the door to thinking about other
similar areas of application, for example in juice production,
where huge amounts of orange peels accumulate, or in sugar
production. The possible applications for HTC are almost without
limits.
Small country, big impact
Liechtenstein contributed to the international negotiations at the climate conference
in Cancun as a member of the Environmental Integrity Group, which comprises
Switzerland, Mexico and South Korea, too. The idea of a Green Climate Fund can be
traced back to this group. As a country with a strong financial center, Liechtenstein
wants to transform itself into a center of excellence for sustainability.
Interview: Steffen Klatt
Is international climate policy back on track following the UN
Climate Change Conference in Cancun in December?
Sven Braden: The conference in Cancun has defi nitely restored
trust in the decision-making abilities of multilateral processes.
After Copenhagen, international climate policy efforts were
nearly derailed. So yes, one can say that since Cancun, they
are back on track.
What were the most important outcomes from Cancun?
Sven Braden: The most important outcome is that the essential
elements of the non-binding Copenhagen Accord have been agreed
to by the 193 member states in a closing resolution. This includes
the agreement to limit global warming to less than two degrees
celsius above pre-industrial levels with an option to reduce that
level to only 1.5 degrees celsius if possible.
Furthermore, the agreement includes a 100 billion US dollars
per year Green Climate Fund to fi nance and implement projects
and climate protection strategies in developing countries. Moreover,
the need for newly industrialized countries and developing countries
to reduce emissions is now being accepted by them, too.
What role did the Environmental Integrity Group (EIG) play?
Sven Braden: The role of the EIG cannot be underestimated.
The Green Climate Fund emerged from the efforts of this group,
as did the establishment of an international registry of climate
protection measures.
What must be accomplished in the coming months in order
to reach a comprehensive international agreement?
Sven Braden: A pressing issue remains whether the Kyoto
Protocol should be extended or if only its essential elements
should be continued. Others are that the individual reduction
targets of countries in the resolutions must be embedded, just
like the relations between industrialized countries and developing
countries must be defi ned.
What does the Cancun Climate Agreement mean for the carbon
market?
Simon Tribelhorn is Director of the
Liechtenstein Bankers Association. He is also
Director of the LIFE Climate Foundation.
Sven Braden works for the Liechtenstein
Office of Environmental Protection. He is a
member of the Liechtenstein delegation to
the international climate negotiations and the
LIFE Climate Foundation.
Sven Braden: The Cancun agreement does not have a direct
infl uence on the price of European emissions allowances. And
the fl exible mechanisms found in the Kyoto Protocol have not
yet been extended. However, there now exists a legal foundation
upon which the future climate regime can be built. That
did not exist previously.
What can international climate policy offer the fi nancial market?
Simon Tribelhorn: International climate policy, with its market
economy approach, offers signifi cant opportunities for all
economic sectors. We are only just beginning to tap into these
opportunities with respect to the fi nancial market in general
and in Liechtenstein in particular. This subject is increasing in
signifi cance – and this makes the LIFE Climate Foundation’s
work so important given its emphasis on creating knowledge
and building networks. Financial intermediaries can longer
disregard the subject of sustainability in general and climate
protection in particular in the long-term. With respect to the
amount of money put into sustainable investments, we still have
a long way to go. Sustainable funds worldwide have a market
share of around one percent currently. Every second investor
views ethical funds positively, but less than one percent are
actually investing in them. We therefore have to create awareness
that sustainability in fi nancial matters also equates to
long-term profi tability.
How does Liechtenstein’s financial center regard these
opportunities?
Simon Tribelhorn: Our fi nancial center is working intensively
to develop know-how and is launching ever more activities in
the fi eld of sustainability. But clients naturally want to obtain
results with their responsible investments and this is a challenge
that we must overcome. We want to use the existing potential
and capture a leadership role in the long run. Sustainability is
far too often exploited for marketing purposes. Quite simply, if
you call yourself sustainable, you must truly be sustainable. We
are convinced that we are on the right path and that we have
the potential to truly become a sustainable center of excellence
for sustainability.
Cleantech Switzerland | People & Society | 13

Uneasy friendship between money and morality
The financial sector can no longer ignore sustainability principles. While they are usually
regarded simply as related to reputation or a business strategy, sustainability
must go one step further and integrate ethics into the market, or else the next crisis
will be imminent.
Yvonne von Hunnius
As the saying goes: “The love of money is the root of all evil.”
But money itself is neutral; it is the zeros that are moved across a
fi nancial trader’s computer screen from one column to the next.
According to the ethicist Christoph Weber-Berg: “Many players
in the fi nancial system assume that the system itself is not bound
by morals so long as it complies with laws and regulations.”
Weber-Berg, who is the Director of the Center for Corporate
Social Responsibility at the University of Applied Sciences in
Business Administration in Zurich, has long advocated for a
more sustainable way of thinking in the fi nance sector.
Unethical behavior has its advantages
Christoph Weber-Berg is not alone in this regard; a wide range
of stakeholders, among them banks, seek to inject consciousness
into the fi nance sector. Inspiration for this comes from
climate change, the fi nancial crisis and a strengthened civil
society. But as an ethical concept itself, sustainability is understood
only by a few.
14 | Cleantech Switzerland | People & Society
The headline should read as follows: As amoral actors, it is not
the responsibility of fi nancial institutions to advocate for the
conservation of polar bears or the fair use of natural resources.
As one German banker sardonically notes: “Actually, it makes
no difference in my fi eld if I trade a small number of resources
at a higher price or a large number of resources at a lower price.”
The banker is quick to stress that there are other factors in this
equation, but she is right from the perspective of the employer,
and anyone who acts differently will lose their competitive
edge. Immoral players have a systematic advantage because
they do not have to justify their actions as long as they don’t
break any laws.
The Association for Environmental Management and Sustainability
in Financial Institutions (VfU), which counts German
and Swiss fi nancial institutions among its members, wants to
change this. In fact, according to VfU, sustainability principles
should help us get out of this dilemma.
VfU Board Member Bernd Wagner, who is also on the
board of the Environment Science Center at the University of
Augsburg, suggests that, “no one can claim that the concept of
sustainability is not present, only that it has to be infused with
actual meaning.”
Commitment in terms of biodiversity
His association wants to be the one that does this. VfU is an
industry-specifi c body for environmental management in fi nancial
institutions. A group of experts was formed at one of its past
events and developed a paper called “Biodiversity Principles
in the Financial Sector”, which is framed in the management
system. It reads: “The aim is to manage the risks resulting from
the loss of biodiversity and to seize the business opportunities
related to conservation.” Reducing risks and seizing opportunities
can provide a strategy from which economic advantages
may emerge. And it is only a fi rst step.
But this is just as important for people as it is for nature.
Or at least this is how the human rights expert Nils Rosemann
from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs sees
its. “There are no either/or questions in this respect,” he says.
Human rights have already been introduced into the economy
as a basic common denominator, but there are no global rules
for the fi nancial industry.
The international debate continues
At the international level, it is the debate itself that is seen as a
success, the sensitivity to the subject at hand and not the drafting
of rules and regulations, which will follow in due course.
This is the mission of Paul Clements-Hunt, Head of the United
Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI).
Over 190 institutions have joined the initiative and all of them
should heed Clement-Hunt’s warning that “we are playing with
fi re.” He doesn’t mean this simply in regards to the fi nancial
crisis, but rather with respect to climate change and resource
scarcity. Nonetheless, many of the companies view the argument
of reputation gain and new business opportunities as the
quick and easy answer to the dangers facing us.
Duty of the fittest
But it means something different for Christian Leitz, Head of
Corporate Responsibility Management at UBS, who quotes
the science historian Ernst Peter Fischer when he calls for
a new understanding of Darwin: “It is not a right but rather
a duty of the fi ttest. The fi ttest have forgotten that they have
obligations.”
Here is one area where ethicists and bankers can come
together. According to Weber-Berg, “we need to do more in
order to understand that sustainability is essentially an ethical
concept.” And he believes that this lack of understanding lies
partially with the universities that, in the past decades, have
failed to situate sustainability in a larger, more nuanced context.
“The logic of our economic system – which seeks to minimize
risks and maximize profi ts – is not reason enough to be sustainable.
And we have studied this far too little.” Without wishing to
sound religious or represent other values, one could, according
to Weber-Berg, have an interest in a stable world order for its
own sake and with no ulterior motive. And perhaps in the fair
trade of natural resources, too.
Cleantech Switzerland | People & Society | 15

IWB has a 12 percent ownership in the
Puerto Errado solar thermal plant in Spain
Basel relies on renewable energy
Switzerland uses non-renewable energy sources to meet up to 80 percent of its energy
consumption. Serious discussions will have to be held to determine if at least some of
this can be replaced with renewable energy in the future. But as the canton of Basel-
City demonstrates, this is possible to accomplish even today.
Raphael Corneo
The public utility company Industrielle Werke Basel (IWB)
is a leader when it comes to the use of renewable energy. It
provides Basel’s entire electricity supply – a city of around
170,000 residents – with renewable energy. “We are the only
Swiss public utility that offers 100 percent renewable electricity
procurement as a basic standard and at no extra charge,”
says Erik Rummer, Spokesperson at IWB. In order for this to
remain so in the future, IWB plans to invest further in renewable
energies in the coming years.
Basel-City as a model canton
Basel has a history of fostering the use of renewable energy.
Basel-City was the fi rst canton to collect a levy on all electricity
bills in the amount of 8 percent, a move that was agreed upon
by voters at the ballot box in 1984. With the money from the
levy, households and companies are able to rely on renewable
energy. “In Basel, we had the advantage that electricity prices
were rather low, in part because we never had to fi nance expensive
nuclear agreements,” says Beat Jans, National Councillor
(SP) for Basel and an environmental scientist. The canton used
this money to invest in low-energy buildings, solar energy plants,
heat pumps or wood heating. “Basel recognized that forwardlooking
energy measures serve local small and medium-sized
companies and also creates jobs,” says Jürg Hofer, Director
of the Department for the Environment and Energy in Basel.
Peter Malama, National Councillor and Director of the Basel-
16 | Cleantech Switzerland | Energy
City Trade Association, agrees. According to him, “investing in
sustainable energy projects pays off in three ways.” Local businesses
receive contracts, they create jobs and they pay taxes in
the canton. Moreover, since 1998, the city has had an incentive
fee (or “green tax”), which urges residents and companies to
continue to save energy. Here, too, Basel has been a trailblazer
in Switzerland.
Considerably lower electricity demands
Basel’s efforts are having an impact. “In Switzerland, each person
has an average energy use of 5,200 watts. In Basel, it is only
3,600 watts,” says Hofer. This makes Basel all that much closer to
meeting the goals of the 2000-Watt Society. And since 1995, the
surface area of solar collectors in Basel has increased tenfold, to
around 11,730 square meters. The surface area of photovoltaic
facilities has also increased, and today electricity is generated from
25,800 square meters of PV installations. “In this way, Basel has
been able to reach its CO2 requirements and still lower its CO2
emissions by 10 percent since 1990,” says Hofer.
Basel hasn’t used nuclear power to meet its energy needs
for decades. “The basis for today’s energy policy was formed
in the 1970s when there was broad opposition to the planned
nuclear power plant in Kaiseraugst,” says Hofer. According to
the 1978 Nuclear Protection Act, the authorities of Basel-City
are required “to use all available legal and political means to
work against the construction of nuclear power plants in the
canton and its vicinity.” “The ghost of Kaiseraugst hangs over
us to this day,” says Jans.
Almost entirely hydropower
The energy produced today in Basel comes primarily from
hydropower. In 2009, approximately 90 percent of Basel’s
energy demands were met by hydropower. Around 6 per cent
is produced by IWB from natural gas in a decentralized combined
heat and power plant. Incineration-based waste-to-energy
production supplies 1.5 percent of Basel’s electricity demands.
IWB requires only a mere 1.7 percent of energy from unknown
sources to cover the remainder of what hydroelectric plants
cannot produce. “We are purchasing hydroelectric certifi cates
in order to compensate the amount of electricity production
currently not produced by renewable sources,” says Rummer.
In this way, IWB will be able offer its customers 100 percent
renewable energy.
Electricity from the sea
IWB hopes to rely on renewable energy in the future, too. The
company, which is headquartered in Canton Basel-City, wants
to assume a leading role in the Swiss market for ecological,
sustainable energies. In order to be able to supply electricity
from renewable energy sources alone, IWB is planning to invest
120 million Swiss francs across Europe over the next 3 years.
“Already by 2013, wind farms, solar thermal facilities and biomass
power plants should be able to produce a good 10 percent
of Basel’s present-day electricity requirements,” says Rummer.
An important component of this should come from offshore
wind farms, such as the Project BARD OS1 off the German
coast. “IWB is in fi nal negotiations to contribute to 6.25 percent
of the construction of this wind park,” says Rummer. This
would correspond to an annual share of electricity production
of 95GWh. Solar thermal power plants and photovoltaic
facilities will also have a place in the new portfolio of renewable
energies. IWB has a 12 percent ownership in the Puerto
Errado solar thermal plant in Spain, which is currently being
constructed. In return, it will receive 6GWh of electricity per
year. And IWB sees a potential for renewable energy in Swit-
zerland, too. In the Jura mountain range, for example, “around
26 GWh of electricity could be produced by wind each year on
the Challpass,” says Rummer.
However, this assumes that local authorities would grant
permission to build on the Challpass. But IWB’s experience
shows that Basel residents are prepared to pay more for clean
energy. “The number of customers willing to pay a surcharge for
ecological electricity production is on the rise,” says Rummer.
And the Energy Advisory Center would grow in size because
of the heavy requests on its personnel.
Switzerland is still dependent
At present, Switzerland still obtains 80 percent of its total energy
demands in the form of oil, gas and uranium. In 2009, CHF 8
billion was spent to procure energy from overseas. “The added
value would be much higher if the money was invested domestically
in renewable energies,” says Hofer. If Switzerland were
able to rely on its own renewable energies, it would be independent
from foreign countries and, furthermore, independent
from the price fl uctuations in raw materials – materials which
are becoming increasingly scarce. “We are convinced that a
Swiss-wide conversion to renewable energy is feasible, even if
it won’t happen overnight,” says Hofer. Jans also believes that
renewable energy sources will prevail in the next ten years.
“The cost curve of renewables is rapidly falling, and the cost
curve for fossil energy, including nuclear, is quickly rising,” he
says. The time will soon come, therefore, when fossil energy
is no longer competitive, and companies appear to be slowly
recognizing this.
“Even when the wheels turn slowly, it seems to me that
the Swiss economy is gradually turning its attention towards
energy-related matters,” says Malama. This year, the fi rst Global
Energy Basel conference will take place in Basel, a two-day
summit devoted to fi nancing sustainable infrastructure, and
the canton hopes to use this forum to pass on its experiences
of the past three decades.
Cleantech Switzerland | Energy | 17

Simpler renovations with CO2 savings
Switzerland’s building stock must be urgently renovated in order to reduce its CO2
emissions. The Swiss Engineers and Architects Association (SIA) has adopted a new
strategy in which the objective of reducing CO2 emissions is more important than the
manner in which it should be done, according to Urs Rieder, Director of the Building
Technology Department at the Luzern University.
Interview: Yvonne von Hunnius
What do you regard as the greatest challenges facing the
renovation of the existing building stock in Switzerland?
Urs Rieder: Most of the buildings that need to be renovated
were built between 1950 and 1980 and are located in densely
populated areas. As a result, it is not always possible to make
changes to the building envelope – something that is needed in
order to receive Minergie-P certifi cation, for example. According
to the SIA’s “Transformation Guidelines”, this is also not the
primary objective, even though one must fi nd a way to reduce
CO2 emissions to the lowest levels possible.
But lower energy consumption also leads to lower CO2 emissions…
There are many different ways to reduce CO2 emissions. And
all of them are needed because every different building category
has to be addressed in a completely different way.
Approaching this from the perspective of energy is obviously
one common method. But in building renovations, it is easier
and more effective when the central focus is put on reducing
CO2 emissions from the outset.
And which tools are helpful in reducing CO2 emissions?
We have compiled charts that record how much energy the
building is being fed and the CO2 burden of its energy. This lets
a building owner know where his or her building stands with
respect to the CO2 emissions per square meter of energy reference
area. The long-term objective is to reduce CO2 emissions
below a value of around 5 kilograms of CO2 per square meter
of energy reference area. We can accomplish this by combining
different effi ciency measures, including reducing the net energy
feed or using energy produced with less CO2. This opens up
any number of ways of reaching this objective.
Which methods do you have at your disposal other than
optimizing the building envelope?
This is naturally a question of building technology, whose
potential was greatly underestimated in the past. When you
renovate an existing building envelope in the best way possible
and then install a geothermal heat pump, for example, you
can accomplish a lot. But what is crucial is how the electrical
energy is produced.
But not every house can meet its own requirements by
installing solar panels…
It goes beyond producing the energy on site by means of photovoltaics,
for example. It can also take the approach of purchasing
share certifi cates for ecological electricity production and having
the building designated. By doing this, property value increases,
the production of ecological electricity is secured and the building
meets a higher energy standard than the actual case may be.
Extending our borders globally and also securing a fi xed designation
for the building opens up numerous perspectives without
forgoing our ambitious objectives.
What role do the “Transformation Guidelines” play in the
context of SIA’s new strategy?
The “Transformation Guidelines” were created by an expert
group from the SIA’s Technological and Industry Professional
Group. It is neither a norm, nor does it wish to compete with
existing norms like the SIA’s “Effi ciency Guidelines”. The intention
is to open up new perspectives for action in a sustainable
future for the transformation of existing building stock and in
doing so, to give momentum behind this transformation. In addition,
SIA is providing more continuing education in this area.
PROFESSOR URS RIEDER
is the Director of the Building Technology
Department at the Luzern University of
Applied Sciences and Arts – Technology and
Architecture in Horw. He is also a Board
Member of the Society of Building Services and
Energy in the Building Industry of the Swiss
Engineers and Architects Association (SIA FHE)
and a member of the Energy and Education
Committee of the SIA. www.hslu.ch
Cobiax, the Swiss Technology provider for light-weight concrete slabs, was recently awarded
with its German subsidiary with the German Material Effi ciency Prize. For Hugo Meier
and Karsten Pfeffer this is just one more argument to win over developers and construction
companies with their technology. They save concrete and steel and along with it a great deal
of grey energy.
Interview: Steffen Klatt
THE SWISS CHEESE OF CONCRETE SLABS
With Cobiax technology, two-way load-bearing concrete structures
can be manufactured that are up to 35 percent lighter in weight
than solid flat slabs. This is made possible by void formers that
are positioned between the bottom and top reinforcement layers.
These reduce the building’s weight, increase static performance
and reduce overall energy consumption. This technology has in
2010 already been used in the UEFA headoffice building in Nyon, the
National Stadium in Warsaw and the Elbphilharmonie Opera House
in Hamburg, among many others. www.cobiax.ch
Award for material effi ciency
Cobiax has been awarded the German Material Efficiency
Prize. Are you proud of this achievement?
Karsten Pfeffer: We are extremely proud. We already knew that
we own a material-effi cient technology. But there is considerable
value in having this confi rmed externally, too.
How important is efficiency as a selling point for Cobiax?
Hugo Meier: Very important. That is the single selling point
that sticks with people. At the same time, it is also our greatest
challenge to infl uence the educational process in the building
industry, so that effi ciency is viewed holistically. Once this is
accomplished, material effi cient slabs will be regarded as a
pre-requisite for economical and ecological improved concrete
frame structures.
How important are the slabs in the structural design?
Hugo Meier: Developers and planners who think in a holistic
manner naturally have an ear for the benefi ts we offer. But there is
resistance within the “traditionalists” in the target group of contractors,
who still favor to build with as much material as possible.
Is Cobiax technology being further developed?
Karsten Pfeffer: We are constantly further developing our technology.
We have to constantly refi ne our product so that the use
of it is as close as possible to what the construction industry is
already familiar with because this is an industry that embraces
change rather slowly. In the beginning, our void formers enabled
us to build slab depths from 35 centimeters and upwards. We
have since introduced the so-called Slimline that allows us to
offer a slab depth from 20 to 35 centimeters, too. This opens
up larger market segments for us.
What types of buildings is your technology suitable for?
Karsten Pfeffer: It can be used for any building where weight
reduction and/or wide span is desired. For example, it could
be a residential house with a large, open living room. Or it
could be used in a multi-story building. Today, the technologi-
cal advantages of light-weight material are no longer expensive.
Moreover, material effi ciency and sustainability issues
in concrete frame structures are becoming increasingly more
important in the building industry.
And for that you now have official recognition…
Karsten Pfeffer: Correct. This makes our benefi t arguments
easier.
What are the next steps for Cobiax?
Hugo Meier: In Europe, our aim in the next two to three years in
the three German-speaking markets is clear: We want to experience
a quantum leap in growth. In other European countries,
we hope to expand our license and salespartner agreements.
In Asia, we are now developing a strategy together with our
new owner, the Tiong Seng Group. Singapore is a priority as a
new home market. In addition, we anticipate a relatively quick
entry into the markets in Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines
and Indonesia. We will enter the Chinese market only carefully
if and when our new owner is the Design and Built Contractor
for a given project.
Hugo Meier (r.) is the CEO of Cobiax Group in Zug. Dr. Ing.
Karsten Pfeffer is Managing Director of Cobiax Germany/
Austria and Chief Technology Officer of Cobiax Group.
The German Material Efficiency Prize is awarded by the
German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
18 | Cleantech Switzerland | Building & Urbanism Cleantech Switzerland | Building & Urbanism | 19

Two Minergie certified buildings: Avireal’s office building Balsberg in Zurich Kloten...
Lower energy consumption means bigger business
Minergie is the most successful national standard for energy efficient construction
worldwide. Minergie has long been played an important role in the Swiss economy:
The value of all buildings certified with the Minergie standard stands at 45 billion
Swiss francs. One reason for this success is that many companies have a stake in
Minergie standards being widely adopted.
Alexa Scherrer
In the past few years, more and more energy effi cient building
and renovation have been going on. In Switzerland, the Minergie
standard is one of the driving forces being this. Although
Minergie is a voluntary building standard, the number of certifi
ed buildings has grown rapidly. “19,000 buildings are presently
Minergie-certifi ed, which amounts to an energy reference area
of 19 million square meters,” says CEO Franz Beyeler. The portion
of new construction built according to Minergie standards
now stands at 25 percent. Minergie has become a heavyweight
in the construction industry: The value of all Minergie-certifi ed
buildings amounts to 45 billion Swiss francs.
Different standards to choose from
Minergie affords building owners, architects and planners great
freedom in design and the selection of material, while at the
same time it has strict requirements with respect to building
envelope, air exchange and reduced energy consumption.
There are also a range of Minergie standards to choose
from: There is the basic Minergie standard, the more stringent
Minergie-P standard and the Minergie-Eco standard. Minergie-P
is used to designate buildings that have an energy consumption
that is even lower than the basic Minergie standard; Minergie-
Eco buildings must meet additional requirements for a healthy
and ecological design. The Minergie-A standard will be introduced
in March 2011 as a supplement to the already-existing
20 | Cleantech Switzerland | Building & Urbanism
standards. “Minergie-A is even better than Minergie-P and will
bring the issue of grey energy to the forefront,” says Beyeler.
Winning new clients with Minergie
Since Minergie relates to all facets of building and construction,
the standard is being implemented through several industries
at once. “For example, those which are concerned with the
building envelope, windows, heating, air exchange or the total
energy balance,” says Beyeler.
A number of companies have been very focused on Minergie-related
products, and with success, too. For example, the
Zehnder Group builds comfort ventilation systems for Minergiecertifi
ed buildings. Ruedi Kriesi, one of the two founders of the
Minergie standard, is today the Director of Technology for the
Zehnder Group Management AG. After nearly one decade,
the comfort ventilation systems account for a large part of the
Group’s sales. Wenger Windows, originally concentrating on its
regional market in the Bernese Oberland, has been consistently
focused on Minergie-compliant energy effi cient windows, bringing
in clients from across Switzerland. Yet another company
is the Renggli AG, a leading specialist in Minergie-certifi ed
energy-effi cient timber construction.
A network of professional partners
For many other companies, Minergie-related products constitute
only a segment of their business activities. For example,
EgoKiefer, a producer of windows and doors, produced the fi rst
Minergie-P-certifi ed windows in Switzerland. In 2009 alone,
EgoKiefer windows used in building renovations reduced heating
oil consumption by over 8,000 tons and CO2 emissions by
more than 25,000 tons.
Minergie can only be advanced when local and regional
construction companies have an interest in implementing the
standard. Minergie has therefore developed a network of professional
partners. And the network is rapidly growing. In 2009
alone, the number of professional partners rose from 335 to
1,059. For many of these professional partners, Minergie-related
products only form a portion of their overall business. This
is the case, for example, with Baur Holzbau AG in Wettswil,
Zurich. According to its Managing Director, Guido Ebnöther,
its Minergie-related orders have increased but still only amount
to three to four orders per year. This is similar for the electrical
company Egger Enertech AG in Meiringen, Bern. In the two
years since it joined Minergie’s professional partnership network,
it has yet to see an increase in sales. “Minergie amounts
to approximately 15 to 20 percent of our orders,” says Toni
Roth, Projects Director.
Continuing education is needed
In order for the Minergie economy to further expand, it still has
to overcome some obstacles. One such obstacle is the need to
provide continuing education to building specialists. Ebnöther
believes that training his employees is an important investment
in the future because they need to be able to present to clients
the savings potentials in concrete fi gures. “Clients should see
the Minergie bottom line not merely in ecological terms, but
also in fi nancial terms,” says Ebnöther.
Beyeler also sees great potential in this area: “Minergie professional
partners must assume the task of actively informing the
public about Minergie, but also demonstrating its advantages to
the clients. In order to accomplish this, they need to undergo
additional training and promote Minergie to the public, for
example at trade fairs.”
... and the Monte Rose hut with a view on the Matterhorn.
Banks offer more favorable mortgages
Money is another obstacle standing in the way of Minergie’s
even more widespread acceptance. “If a client’s budget is
exceeded, Minergie is often the fi rst thing to be cast out. A
beautiful kitchen is always far more appealing than superior
insulation, which cannot be seen,” says Ebnöther. But the
lifecycle costs are extremely important: When more money is
invested in the building structure, profi ts are later gained in the
form of lower heating costs and a higher market value.
In order to overcome this obstacle, many banks now offer
favorable mortgages. “We place signifi cant weight on sustainable
consulting which includes social, ecological and economic
aspects,” says Markus Nater from Credit Suisse. The bank offers
a Minergie mortgage, which includes preferential terms and
conditions. “In addition to a longer fi nancing period, a long
amortization period and a lower affordability calculation, we
will assume up to 4,000 Swiss francs of the costs required for
Minergie certifi cation,” says Nater.
The Zurich-headquartered bank is also a big player in the
Minergie industry: It is currently building the largest Minergie-
P-Eco building in Switzerland. And with its Credit Suisse Real
Estate Fund Green Property, it launched the fi rst fund to invest
exclusively in Minergie-certifi ed buildings.
OUTGROWING SWITZERLAND
Minergie is a building standard used in Switzerland and
Liechtenstein. But in the future, it should also have strong representation
overseas. “Exporting the Minergie brand is one of our top
priorities – but it is no easy task,” says CEO Beyeler. Through the organization
Prioriterre, the Minergie Association has a licensing partner
in France. Prioriterre has already certified 112 buildings. Talks
are currently underway with potential licensing partners in Poland,
Sweden and the USA as well, according to Beyeler.
Cleantech Switzerland | Building & Urbanism | 21

Wanted: new materials
Switzerland has only a few natural resources. The shortage of rare earth metals on the
world market in 2010 was a wake-up call for companies and research facilities alike.
However, replacing rare materials with other, more abundant materials faces many
obstacles.
Alexa Scherrer
2010 brought rare earth metals to the public’s attention. The
shortage of rare earths on the world market highlighted that
the supply of metals and minerals to the economy cannot be
guaranteed forever.
According to an overview on the state of access to raw
materials in the EU, 14 out of 41 minerals and metals analyzed
in the report have today reached critical levels. This includes
Platinum Group Metals, Indium and Tantalum, all of which are
required for the manufacture of catalytic converters, fl at screens
and microcondensers. It also includes rare earths – a group of
17 elements that are essential for the manufacture of permanent
magnets for electric motors in hybrid vehicles or wind farms,
among other applications. According to a German study, the
demand for rare earths triggered by the development of future
technologies could rise well beyond 2006s annual global production.
For example, the demand for Gallium in 2030 may be
six times higher as the annual production in 2006.
Politically-created shortages
But the name “rare earths” is actually misleading, according to
Patrick Wäger from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials
Science and Technology (Empa): “There is actually 200 times
more Thulium and Lutetium – two of the scarcest elements
in the group of rare earths – concentrated in the earth’s crust
than there is gold.”
22 | Cleantech Switzerland | Materials & Production
According to Material Scientist Peter Uggowitzer of the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, the 2010
shortage of rare earths on the world market was politically
induced: “It has everything to do with Chinese pricing.” Due
to its policy of dumping, China now controls 95 per cent of the
world market for rare earths and has even cut back on export
quotas in the past months. “In every other country, output is
on the decline and has dropped to almost zero. Profi t is lower
and production costs more expensive,” says Uggowitzer. High
hopes rest on the discovery of new rare earth deposits outside
of China, in particular in Greenland where production should
begin in 2015.
The limits of urban mining
But it is not a matter of replacing one deposit with another. “By
improving a material’s lifecycle, we can reduce our dependancy,”
says Empa researcher Wäger. The raw materials ought to be
recovered and extracted from production waste or discarded
consumer and infrastructure goods. Sometimes referred to as
“urban mining”, this is presently underway. “But we are only at
the beginning of this new fi eld.
The levels of rare earths in consumer goods are low and
we are still lack suitable technologies to reap the economic
benefi ts of this alternative.” According to Wäger, an interim
solution could consist of temporarily storing the components
from consumer goods such as fl at screen modules until the
appopriate technologies are developed.
Research on replacement materials has begun
Switzerland already took a fi rst step in the direction of sustainable
use of rare materials when it introduced a disposal and
recycling program for electrical and electronic appliances 15
years ago. Empa is currently investigating how critical metals
from high tech consumer goods can be extracted and regained.
But a different research direction is the outright replacement
of these materials. For example, car catalytic converters have
been studied which require a reduced precious metal content.
Other research has looked at carbon nanotubes which make the
use of Indium in fl at screens redunant. But there is a problem
with replacement: “In many cases, the alternative solution is,
as a rule, either less effective or involves substituting one rare
material with another rare material,” explains Wäger.
The Institute of Metals Research at the ETH is also beginning
to think about the replacement of materials. “Scarcity
was not an issue until now. But now we have to ask ourselves
whether we truly need rare earths or if there are other options,”
says Uggowitzer. “Research is now tasked with answering these
questions. There will likely be a reduction in quality, but we
are very close to reaching the properties of alloys with rare
metals.”
Companies are concerned with supply security
Material intensive companes are also concerned with the procurement
and potential replacement of materials. The chemical
company Sika has increased its orders from certain suppliers in
order to overcome this bottleneck, but so far it hasn’t suffered
from the shortage of raw materials, according to Dominik Slappnig,
Head of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations.
Sika is looking “to fi nd ways to adapt certain formulas”.
This sounds similar to the Basel chemical company Lonza.
The company is always looking for ways to innovate and ensure
that its supply base is secured, according to a spokesperson.
However, as Lonza operates in several regulated businesses,
great care needs to be taken whenever new materials are introduced
to replace current solutions. Security of supply is a key
driver for Lonza’s sourcing policies.
The chemical company BASF, which acquired the former
Ciba Spezialitätenchemie in 2008, has also accepted that it
has to concern itself with the availability of rare earths. This is
being done mainly in the manufacture of vehicle and industry
catalytic converts. “In order to protect ourselves from bottlenecks,
we are broadening our supplier base as a way of
mitigating risk. We are also developing new technologies in
order to offset middle to long-term risks,” says Franz Kuntz
from BASF Switzerland.
Stone is better than metal
Smaller companies, in the meantime, are searching for entirely
new solutions. The Munich-based company Technocarbon Technologies
wants to replace metal with stone – thanks to carbon
fi bers. Its founder, Kolja Kuse, is counting on granite slabs or
other natural stones that are stabilized using carbon fi bers. Their
products are as light as aluminum but harder than steel. Kuse
licenses his patents through a Liechtenstein foundation, the
Global Center for Effi ciency of Resources and Materials. The
Swiss ski manufacturer Zai became the fi rst company to use
this technology when it integrated the carbon-fi ber material in
its skis. Kuse knows that there are other possible applications,
such as house construction or vehicle manufacturing. For Kuse,
the goal is to replace the bulk of materials in order to reduce
CO2 emissions. “But we are not there yet by a longshot.”
Kuse is aware that his approach would turn the global
material economy on its head. But such upheavals have always
been around. “One has always started from the position that
an urban civilization without steel, aluminum or concrete is
unimaginable.” If we adopt his technology, mankind will once
again enter a stone age – but this time around, it will be a
highly modern one.
Cleantech Switzerland | Materials & Production | 23

Cleantech clusters connecting globally
Cleantech clusters are being created all over the world. Now is the time to connect them
globally, says Shawn Lesser. He is one of the three founders of the Global Cleantech
Cluster Association, together with swisscleantech and the Finnish Cleantech Cluster.
The idea came about during an event organized by the Swiss Embassy in the US.
Interview: Steffen Klatt
What is the goal of the Global Cleantech Cluster Association?
Shawn Lesser: The basic premise behind GCCA is that cleantech
is similar to oil in that you have to look for it wherever it may
be in the world. We put together the top 20 cleantech clusters in
the world; there are some 3,500 companies within these clusters.
We promote the whole sector instead of just one region.
Our fi rst activity was to launch a later stage best-of-class
contest on November 5. We have ten different categories such
as wind, solar, etc. Each cluster can nominate its best-of-class
companies. They are allowed to nominate three companies in
each category, and a total of ten companies. We have senior
venture capitalist experts for judges.
GCCA will help promote the whole idea of clusters. Clusters
are the drivers of this universe.
This sounds as if GCCA is the best tool for discovering the
next great investment opportunity…
That is part of it for us, too. We want to create a deal fl ow. But
GCCA is much more than a contest. Perhaps someone in Moscow
has a great technology that other people need in India. They
would never fi nd each other. The can connect through us.
We hold to the concept of preferred location and preferred
providers.
What is that?
It is simple. Take the UK TI [UK Trade and Invest, the offi cial
export and investment promotion agency in Great Britain, stk].
They want to fi nd new ideas and import them in order to boost
economic development in the UK. This would be the preferred
location. They usually have incentives special to their region.
The UK for instance is very interested in wind energy so they
bring companies in the wind sector to the UK. Or take New
Jersey in the US: it is all about solar energy, so they want to
bring the best-in-class company, wherever it is located in the
world, to New Jersey.
And then you have companies that provide a service to the
industry, which they want to bring into this circle. They could
offer it like apps, with a discount for cluster members. It could
be patents sold through our distribution channel or it could be
research. We want to have multiple apps as not every app might
be useful for everyone. It should be a toolbox of apps.
When will these clusters meet?
Our fi rst event is planned for August 2011 in Montreal, Canada.
It will be organized by Ecotech Québec.
Who are the people behind GCCA?
The three founders are Chris Häuselmann from swisscleantech,
Nina Harjula from Lahti in Finland and me. The people
around Nina Harjula have the mandate from the EU clusters
to go international. I met Chris when Doris Leuthard [Swiss
Federal Councillor, then Minister for Economic Affairs, now
for Environment and Energy, stk] came to Washington, DC in
April 2010. We met again on June 6 in New York at an event
organized by the Swiss Embassy in the US. It was called “Swiss
Dialogue: Where are cleantech dollars going?”. Chris, Nina and
I sat together and saw that everybody was doing similar things.
We asked ourselves, where is the overlap? So we fi rst came up
with the idea for the contest and then with GCCA.
Can every cluster in the world join GCCA?
Our goal is to have 50 clusters with 10,000 companies by the
end of 2011. But we want to have quality over quantity. Some
clusters will be more active.
SHAWN LESSER
is founder and president of Sustainable World
Capital, a consulting company in Atlanta, Georgia.
Together with Chris Häuselmann of swisscleantech
and Nina Harjula of the Cleantech Cluster
Finland in Lahti, he founded the Global Cleantech
Cluster Association on November 5, 2010. He has
over 15 years of experience in institutional equity
sales. www.gccassoc.org
Traveling further on electricity
The participants in the Zero Emissions Race traveled around the world quietly, and yet they
didn’t even use one gram of carbon dioxide. And the winners are: the Swiss Oerlikon Solar
Racing Team of Frank Loacker and Tobias Wülser in their Zerotracer electric vehicle.
Interview: Yvonne von Hunnius
How did you make it from Switzerland to China, and from
Canada to Mexico? Did you use an electric generator?
Frank Loacker: We don’t need a generator. We were able to travel
to Asia by using existing electrical outlets. The infrastructure is not
entirely convenient, but it is there. In fact, it’s possible to travel
even farther than in a normal petrol vehicle because not only is
there usually an electrical source at every gas station, but we can
also recharge our vehicle in every house.
It was only in the Gobi desert that we broke out into a sweat:
We were on less than ten percent capacity before fi nally making it
to a gas station, which had a diesel generator but no electrical outlets.
We were allowed to recharge our vehicle using this generator
because according to the rules of the race, each team had to have
a 100 percent renewable energy source in their home country that
generated and fed into the grid the exact same amount of energy
that the team needed. Oerlikon Solar is not just the main sponsor
of our vehicle; the company also produces energy through its
solar energy facilities in Trübbach, Switzerland.
You had the highest number of points in this race. Why?
Because prior to the race, we had put in 10,000 test kilometers
– this was more than the other three teams. In addition, Tobias
Wülser and I both have a considerable amount of experience
in this fi eld. I have been working on the technology for a long
time already and I participated in one of Louis Palmer’s previous
projects. I knew what to expect on the technological side.
We regularly achieve 350 kilometers per charge with our
batteries. This is an outstanding effi ciency of 65 Wh per kilometer.
The battery management system, developed by our sponsor
BRUSA, is very advanced and reliable. But the construction –
the complete integration of design, wiring and mechanics – is
entirely by us.
Was the race as competitive as one often sees in films?
Not in the least. All of us helped each other out. We all wanted
to demonstrate that the technology works and that the infrastructure
for it is already in place.
But there were a series of individual competitions during the
race. One was for schoolchildren to choose which vehicle they
thought was the coolest. Another was to measure the top speed
and acceleration, which we won by reaching 183 kilometers per
hour. The vehicle’s reliability played a huge role in this and it
never once broke down on us. The Zerotracer is as safe as a car
thanks to its Kevlar structure, which is also used in Formula 1.
Did you ever fear that someone would steal your vehicle?
A thief wouldn’t be able to drive away in this vehicle. Even if
they could ride a motorcycle, the vehicle would control them
after around 500 kilometers. And a thief would have a diffi cult
time trying to sell it because there are not too many vehicles
of this type.
Now it will be famous...
And rightly so because it is one of the most effi cient vehicles
built for the road. It is also the fastest and offers everything
that a luxury sports car has: Two seats, sophisticated features,
a large trunk. And it accelerates as quickly as a Porsche. This
justifi es its price tag of 100,000 Swiss francs (76,000 Euro). At
present, there are only three models on the road, each with its
own different structure and motor system. Two of the three
won the X-Prize in the USA this year. Peraves, in Winterthur,
built the gasoline version of this vehicle 25 years ago. Tobias
Wülser came up with this new design for Peraves three years
ago and which is currently in production with a normal BMW
combustion engine. Peraves has the patent on the closed-cabin
motorcycle and is the distributor, while we at Designwerk are
responsible for the engineering and design. The Zerotracer will
be produced under the name E-Tracer “made in Switzerland” in
2011, and we hope that we can continue to be successful.
FRANK LOACKER
was the second pilot of the Zerotracer in the
Zero Emissions Race alongside Tobias Wülser.
He is the chief engineer of the vehicle. He
works at Designwerk GmbH in Winterthur as a
technical consultant and chief engineer.
www.zerotracer.com www.design-werk.ch
24 | Cleantech Switzerland | Materials & Production Cleantech Switzerland | Mobility & Logistics | 25

Geneva becomes mobile with the tram
The Canton of Geneva is wedged between the lake of Geneva and the Jura Mountains,
making traffic one of its most pressing concerns. The city’s appearance is being fundamentally
altered by ten years of intense tram network expansion. Its residents are
slowly coming to accept this new direction.
Denise Lachat
The sidewalks on Rue des Deux-Ponts have been torn apart up
to the walls of the houses, leaving a wide trench stretching out
to the street. The canton’s engineer, René Leutwyler, points out
a maze of pipes in the pit: Even in today’s snowstorm, lines for
water, gas, electricity and fi ber optic cables are being installed.
On top of these, the bed for the new tram rails will later be
placed. Workers have placed grates that connect the house
entrances to the street, enabling life to proceed like normal. Yet
residents and pedestrians are nevertheless irritated, a reaction
which Leutwyler is familiar with from past projects. And he
is sympathetic, too: “Geneva is one big construction site and
no one can get anywhere on time by car.” The 6.5 kilometer
long route, which corresponds to a length of 20 football fi elds,
employs over 400 workers.
Nearly suffocated by traffic
This has been going on for nearly ten years. In 2000, the Geneva
Canton Government decided in principle to expand its public
transportation network, and they are counting on the tram to
alleviate their woes. It would be fi tting to use the slogan “Back
to the tram” because at the end of the 19th century, Geneva
had 130 kilometers of tracks – the longest tram network in
Europe. Then, from the 1950s onwards, it was almost entirely
wiped out, and all but the number 12 tram were decommissioned.
“Make space for the car” was the mindset at that time.
But this is proving to be fatal a half century later. The city is
all but suffocated by the traffi c. And so with parliament’s backing,
Leutwyler is busy installing tram tracks. On December 13,
2003, at 1:15 p.m., the 2.3-kilometer route of the number 13
tram was inaugurated with a ceremony, and track after track
has been installed since then.
Beyond the Swiss borders
No less than 22 kilometers of new tram tracks will be built by
next summer, at which time the train station in the city center
will be connected to the international research center Cern,
which lies eight kilometers away. Other projects lay in wait.
As part of the “Suburban Project” – a cross-border initiative
subsidized by the Federal Government – the Geneva tram will
even reach the French municipality of Annemasse by the year
2018; all in all, around 20 kilometers are planned. Although
Geneva is still a long way from the 130 kilometers of tram tracks
that it had at the turn of the 20th century, more than what is
currently planned is not possible in the densely populated city.
As Leutwyler says: “Otherwise, we would have to push the
houses aside.”
Even if no houses are relocated in Geneva, a bridge sometimes
has to be blasted apart. A tram weighs 85 tons, which
is too heavy for the Pont de l’Isle. Demolition and rebuilding
are cheaper than reinforcing, and so Geneva is following in the
footsteps of Julius Caesar nearly 2000 years later, as Leutwyler
laughingly recounts. But for a different purpose: Caesar laid the
bridge to waste in order to prevent the Helvetians from crossing
the Rhone, while Geneva is making the way free for the tram.
Cars will not be inconvenienced
The canton is digging deep into its pockets: One kilometer of
infrastructure costs on average 30 million Swiss francs. Has
“Make space for the tram” replaced the earlier “Make space
for the car”? Michèle Künzler wonders. On the one hand,
Parliament awarded the expansion project to the operating
company Transports Publics Genevois (TPG) for the next four
years, even if it costs 800 million Swiss francs, or 35 percent
more than before. “In under ten years, the TPG contract nearly
doubled in cost, which is enormous,” says the Green Party
politician, who is responsible for transportation in the Canton
Geneva government. On the other hand, the center parties are
only willing to support expansion of the public transportation
system so long as it is combined with private transportation.
Künzler says: “The parliamentary debates on transportation are
always very fi erce.” Because Geneva is trailing behind other
Swiss cities with respect to its public transportation network,
it must proceed even more decisively.
Also possible without lines
The fact that the department responsible for public transportation
in the center-dominated government is under the control of
the Green Party is obviously not harming Künzler’s objectives.
However, being left-wing or right-wing is not a key factor, says
Künzler. She brings as an example the French city of Bordeaux,
where the center-party government is installing a tram network.
And a fairly expensive one, too: In Bordeaux’s historic old city,
trams circulate without power lines by drawing power directly
from the tracks themselves. This would be technically possible
in Geneva, too, as engineer Leutwyler confi rms. However,
because Geneva just purchased new rolling stock, changing
over to a different system is not even under discussion. A “Cityrunner”
costs 5.5 million Swiss francs, and if 60 trams have to
be replaced, one can easily see how the costs add up. On the
other hand, TPG is currently testing the possibility of line-free
trolley buses, according to Künzler.
Congested during rush hour
20 years ago, Geneva’s borders with Canton Vaud and France
were crossed 180,000 times per day; today it is 550,000 times.
“No surprise it is congested,” says Künzler. This is all the more
so as Geneva continues to have more than double the parking
spaces as Bern or Zurich. This tempts the commuter to
turn to private transportation. But on the other hand, the
infrastructure hasn’t kept up with Geneva’s booming economy.
The highway between Lausanne and Geneva has come to its
limits, the trains are overcrowded, money for a third track is
lacking and the regional train Ceva to France is still blocked
by appeals. Until all these bottlenecks are alleviated, Canton
Geneva is still betting on the tram, which has also become
jam-packed during rush hour. “The success has surpassed all
of our expectations,” rejoices Künzler. In Geneva, there is still
the idea that public transportation is only for people who cannot
afford a car. However, the passengers who have tried the
tram are very satisfi ed, in particular at the end of November
during heavy snowfall.
The skies paralyzed aircraft, buses and cars. Künzler always
took the tram on those days. “It was the only mode of transportation
in Geneva that wasn’t slowed down by the weather.”
26 | Cleantech Switzerland | Mobility & Logistics Cleantech Switzerland | Mobility & Logistics | 27

CLEANTECH SWITZERLAND – NETWORKING,
BROKERAGE AND MARKETING FOR SUCCESS.
Renewable energies, energy efficient buildings, waste management
– Cleantech is a future industry with great potential. As a leading
international location for innovation, Switzerland offers excellent
conditions and Cleantech products and services in the global marketplace.
Cleantech Switzerland provides small and medium sized Swiss
Cleantech businesses information, services and contacts with the
stated aim of generating orders overseas. Central to market development
is the web portal www.cleantech-switzerland.com with its
database of relevant organization where companies can register and
present themselves to the export markets. Industry experts identify
projects on-site and hand them over to the specialists active in
Switzerland for further evaluation.
Cleantech Switzerland was developed by Osec, Switzerland’s trade
promotion organization, on behalf of the Federal Government.
www.cleantech-switzerland.com
“It shows that we are on the right path”
The Export Platform Cleantech Switzerland provides support to Swiss fi rms in priority markets
around the world (see inset). Rolf Häner, Managing Director Cleantech Switzerland,
gives an overview of the Platform’s successes to date and its planned activities for 2011.
Interview: Vanessa Borer
Cleantech Switzerland was established in June 2010. Where
does the Export Platform stand after the first half year?
Rolf Häner: The Platform is in great shape. We have advanced
market development in Switzerland and identifi ed the fi rst
Cleantech projects. We have also made signifi cant breakthrough
in our target markets of North America, China, India and
selected countries in the EU.
Can you already see some initial successes?
Yes, there have been some impressive results that show we
are on the right path with the Export Platform. In China, we
brought in the fi rst orders for Swiss small and medium sized
enterprises. We held the Swiss-Turkish Cleantech Forum on the
occasion of the state visit by the Turkish President Abdullah
Gül to Switzerland. Thanks to a high media presence, we were
able to position the Platform in the best possible way to Turkish
decision-makers. In Canada, we are pursuing promising projects
in the fi elds of building technology and waste management, and
we are eager to hear the reactions from SMEs.
How would you describe the reactions of Cleantech companies?
Swiss companies are showing great interest in the Export Platform
and the business opportunities that it affords. More than
150 SMEs have already registered on our web database. One
challenge facing these companies, however, is the overwhelming
amount of information in the area of clean technologies:
Numerous concepts and terminologies, initiatives and Cleantech
players are complicating the effective positioning of SMEs.
28 | Cleantech Switzerland | Export Platform Cleantech Switzerland
Why has Cleantech Switzerland decided to attend the World
Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi at the end of
January?
First of all, the event organizer has a broad network. Secondly,
the WFES provides an ideal means to enter the GCC market
(The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, which
includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates,
Qatar and Oman, vbo) and to collaborate in the future with
business hubs and embassies. Last but not least, some of our
members will also attend.
Which priorities does the Export Platform want to focus on
in the next half year?
We want to further intensify the high level of strategic activities
in 2011. In Switzerland, we would like to improve the access
to SMEs. Internationally, we intend to take advantage of various
business networks in order to seize business opportunities.
Switzerland is without doubt a Cleantech country.
ROLF HÄNER
is the Managing Director of Cleantech Switzerland and is in
charge of the Platform’s business activities, determining its
services and developing its core markets. An economist with a
degree from the University of Zurich, he was previously employed
by Credit Suisse in commercial banking. Before that, he was responsible
for purchasing and logistics at Unilever.
Interview: Steffen Klatt
Building with the Climate in Mind
Bob Gysin and his office is designing the first phase of the Swiss Village in Masdar, Abu
Dhabi. The Swiss quarter in the eco-city should be both functional and suited to the climate
– and architecturally compelling.
How do you envisage the Swiss Village in Masdar?
I can’t say that yet but one has to take the climate and the environment
into consideration when building.. The headquarters
of Eawag (Swiss Federal Water Research Institute, built by BGP,
stk.) is not a Swiss building in many respects. Perhaps one can
use the slogan “Swiss box” because the building is relatively
clear and simple. But the aura that the building projects is not
solely Swiss.
We won a competition in HafenCity in Hamburg, and we
are using principles that are similar to those used in the Eawag
headquarters. We are not allowed to emit carbon dioxide. One
of the principal occupants of the building will be Greenpeace
Germany. The building respects its historic context in the city
of Hamburg and makes use of bricks in striking surroundings.
Now comes Masdar, a city in the desert. This will look different
from both the Eawag headquarters in Dübendorf and
the building in Hamburg.
What rules do you have to abide by in Masdar?
Masdar City is a carbon neutral development. The projects can
only be air-conditioned by renewable energies. But we have only
just begun to consider how these ideas will affect the design. We
have looked carefully at traditional architecture and of course
current technology, too.
So is the Swiss Village situated as originally planned?
Yes. The location was in fl ux and Foster + Partner made some
changes to the master plan. We now know exactly where the
plot of the Swiss Sprinter is located in Masdar which is very
central and quite close to the headquarters of Masdar and not
far from the university that has already been built. Additionally,
expansion opportunities for the Swiss Village are abundant.
How do you approach the planning?
We fi rst look at how a building should be integrated into the site.
From that arises the question of how much of the exterior is
exposed to direct sunlight. For example, there are consequences
for thermal load and location if 1000 watts vs. 7000 watts of
solar radiation reaches the facade.
How much freedom do you have?
Quite a lot. Within the borders of the plot, we can decide, for
example, in which direction to orient a building. Computer technology
enables us to run simulations. Knowing the distances
and the like, we now have a concept of what we want to do.
Will there be alleys within the Swiss quarter?
Yes, but they will not be public alleys. We are examining building
height in order to determine optimal use, just as we are looking
at orientation. What is the ideal height to provide enough light
in the workplace? How do we best use the available space?
What workplace modules can we provide? How do the internal
connections best function? Where do we place the ancillary
rooms? Naturally, this depends on the culture of the occupant.
At least some of the tenants will likely come from Switzerland.
And the workplace standards will also be similar to those in
Switzerland.
Will there also be a hotel or the like?
Not in this program. But the structures will be built from the
get-go in a fl exible manner and will allow for the possibility of
converting or modifying a structure in the future. The installations
will always be open to modifi cations.
When will the Swiss Village be completed?
I don’t know. It can proceed quickly if the will of the client is
present and when enough Swiss companies sign on as tenants.
Our task is to design the fi rst phase of the project in a way that
meets the requirements – which have already been stipulated –
of function, architecture, and climate and sustainability.
BGP ARCHITECTS IN ZURICH
consists of its partners Bob Gysin, Marco
Giuliani and Rudolf Trachsel and has 35 employees.
Its recently completed buildings include
the Eawag headquarters in Dübendorf. Currently
under construction is the new headquarters
for Greenpeace Germany, Designport and 90
apartments in Hamburg. BGP has been awarded
numerous prizes. www.bgp.ch
Cleantech Switzerland | Swiss Village | 29

Cleantech is on the upswing
The business association swisscleantech is one year old. And already it has contributed to
the Swiss parliamentary debate on CO2 emissions and is a co-founder of the Global Cleantech
Cluster Association. President Nick Beglinger believes cleantech is on the rise worldwide.
Interview: Yvonne von Hunnius
What has swisscleantech accomplished in its first year?
Nick Beglinger: A lot! We established ourselves as the voice
of sustainable business and our opinion is increasingly being
sought after. The National Council decision that Switzerland
has to reduce its inland CO2 emissions by 20 percent by 2020
came about in part thanks to our efforts. And for the fi rst time,
over 70 Swiss fi rms campaigned together in one advertisement
for ambitious climate targets.
With the Swiss Cleantech Strategy, we produced a document
that has visibly infl uenced the federal government’s Swiss
Cleantech Masterplan. But for me personally, the most important
point is that slowly but surely, a new way of thinking is
taking place and our positions are being accepted by other
players. In their Masterplan, the federal government presents
Cleantech as an opportunity, as a factor that will make Swiss
work places more successful and as a positive attribute of the
Swiss economy. It also emphasizes the importance of regulations
and conditions in Cleantech innovation. More and more
companies are taking notice of this as well. They also recognize
that a new partnership with the government is the right way
to move forward for the economy.
swisslceantech played a role in establishing the Global
Cleantech Cluster Association (GCCA) initiative. Why?
Cleantech is gathering momentum, in Switzerland and abroad.
In the interests of sustainable development and cleantech
companies, it is necessary to create a network among various
national markets. This is the most effi cient means of
export promotion – you bring together companies from different
countries and let them communicate directly among
themselves. And because Cleantech develops very quickly,
it is important that Switzerland thinks and acts globally. It
makes much more sense to be ahead of the developments,
to guide their direction and thus profi t from them. GCCA
enables effi cient networking on a global scale – and with it,
innovation. Because of our involvement in its establishment,
Switzerland is a founding member of GCCA and we can both
shape GCCA and create opportunities for Swiss Cleantech
companies.
30 | Cleantech Switzerland | swisscleantech
The first year was characterized by “from Copenhagen to
Cancun”. What comes next?
In our opinion, there is a clear need for action in Switzerland
after Cancun. The proposal from swisscleantech is a reduction
in CO2 emissions of 20 percent domestically and 20 percent
abroad by 2020.
In our view, parliament still has too little determination
in this regard. By next year’s climate conference in Durban,
it should be possible to position Switzerland as the leading
country in climate protection indices if there are clear, practical
policies with clear goals and conditions. This would boost Switzerland’s
credibility and strengthen its economy. Switzerland
should go to Durban with a new mandate.
What are your other goals for the coming year?
We want to implement our Swiss Cleantech Strategy, provide
input in the federal government’s Masterplan and help carry out
their measures. We will continue to strengthen our membership
base and expand our range of services. We are also focusing
more on investment, innovation, energy, building and transportation.
With regards to energy, the focus lies in Cleantech, and
solutions must therefore be pro renewable energies and pro
energy effi ciency. Another important point is energy security:
There should be no new construction of nuclear power plants,
but the question arises if existing ones should be expanded. A
tax reform is also worth considering that would put a higher
burden on energy consumption and provide relief to citizens.
Solutions also need to be found at an international level for
energy intensive sectors in the area of exports.
NICK BEGLINGER
is Founder and President of swisscleantech. He
is also President of the Foundation for Global
Sustainability in Zurich. Previously, Beglinger was
Managing Partner at the Zurich advisory fi rm,
Maxmakers. After his studies at the London School
of Economics, Beglinger was employed by the consulting
fi rm McKinsey in Asia among other places.
Conergy
Global player with
20 years of solar
experience
EWB
Semi-public utility
serving Swiss capital
Bern with sustainable
energy
PERAVES
eTracer winning
X-Price ($2.5m),
reaching 100 kmh
in 3.2 secs
South Pole Carbon
Global carbon
offsetting leader,
world-wide reach,
Swiss quality
ABB Sécheron
The world’s most
effi cient propulsion
systems
Solar Impulse
Manned solar airplane,
fl ying day & night,
3 world records
...representing global leaders
at the heart of Cleantech
in Switzerland
... for a sustainable and dynamic economy
BioApply
Swiss start-up with global
prospects
in biomaterials
(Masdar = Clent)
Ferienart
First Minergie hotel,
utterly sustainable,
high up in the
mountains
PlanetSolar
Circumnavigating
the global on solar
power, only!
Tesla Motors
E-Sportscar, highest
market penetration
in Switzerland
become a member
www.swisscleantech.ch
www.swisscleantech.ch
Bern +41 58 580 08 08 | Zürich +41 58 580 08 09 | Genf +41 58 580 08 10 | Basel +41 58 580 08 11 | Vaduz +423 230 13 26

Cutting-edge technology reaches new heights
Climbers need perseverance to get to the summit of the
4,634m high Dufourspitze on the Gorner Glacier in Switzerland.
They long for comfort and relaxation. Yet mountain
huts in the Swiss Alps – far away from power and Switzerland’s
water supplies – tend to be rather rustic. However,
the new Monte-Rosa lodge gives its guests a warm welcome
with electric lighting and with hot running water – thanks
to an ultra-modern photovoltaic system. 84 square meters
of photovoltaic panels as well as 56 square meters of sun
collectors for the hot water supply are integrated into the
facade. Solar power covers up to 90% of the hut’s energy
demand.
The effi cient solar modules
from 3S Photovoltaics, a
subsidiary of the Meyer Burger
Technology Group, play an
important role in this system
– as does the highly accurate
measurement technology of
Endress+Hauser.
Meyer Burger Technology
Ltd. is one of the world’s leading
providers of technologies,
systems and production lines
for photovoltaics in the solar
industry. Following various
acquisitions and a merger with
3S Industries AG, the MEYER
BURGER Group comprises 10
companies today, which cover
the entire value chain including
solar wafers, cells and modules
and building-integrated solar
systems. This means that the
"The Endress+Hauser Promass is crucial Group has exceptional process
for feeding of the suspension" according to expertise. Each area is familiar
Martin Plüss (center), Head of Production at
with the upstream process steps
MB WAFERTEC.
and knows what is required to
ensure a smooth transition to the next stages of production.
Precise cut is a must for wire saw
An important step in the production of a solar module is to cut
silicon ingots evenly into ultra-thin wafers: surface roughness
or breaks at the edges would infl uence the effi ciency.
When cutting with slurry, a suspension (slurry) is fed
through nozzles onto the wire fi eld of a wire saw. A very
specifi c amount of slurry, which contains silicone carbide,
must be fed to ensure that the wire consistently and accurately
cuts ultra-thin wafers and guarantees the required quality.
The silicone carbide produces the abrasion. This is where
Endress+Hauser’s Promass 83E Coriolis fl owmeter plays a
critical role. Not only does the device ensure that the correct
quantity of slurry is fed, it also records the density and temperature
of the medium. The density provides information on
the concentration of the abrasive crystals. The right temperature
ensures the desired effect on the process. Martin Plüss,
Head of Production at MB WAFERTEC, explains “In the
Promass, we have a device which reliably monitors the three
most important parameters simultaneously and guarantees
the fi rst-class quality”.
32 | Cleantech Switzerland | Success Story
Just-in-time measuring technology
The huge success of MB Wafertec’s wire sawing machines is
refl ected in the large volume of incoming orders. Up to thirty
wire saws are assembled per week. This output can only be
achieved with the help of fl exible suppliers. Martin Plüss: “We
are at a very high level in the supply chain here. Therefore,
dependable suppliers and an exceptional degree of fl exibility
are very important.“
Hence, the framework agreement between Endress+Hauser
and MB WAFERTEC: “MEYER BURGER is a very important
customer for Endress+Hauser Flowtec AG” states Michael
Schuker, who heads up the department for OEM business in
the fl owmeter production plant. “We supply between 25 and 35
devices per week. This requires specially tailored production
control on our part and effi cient management with regard to
the provision of materials by our suppliers.” MB WAFERTEC’s
Production Manager explains “delivery of the Promass devices
is planned to the exact day and that works really well.“
From wafer to solar module
To turn the silicon wafer into a
solar cell, the surface of the wafer
must be coated and treated.
Then, the individual solar cells
are connected in series and soldered
to create strings. Several
strings together are sandwiched
between glass and EVA fi lm,
ensuring that the cells have a
lifespan of 25 years and withstand
wind and weather. A task
for 3S MODULTEC.
Based in Lyss, Switzerland
and part of the MEYER
BURGER Technology Group
since the beginning of 2010,
3S MODULTEC develops and
builds laminating lines for the production of solar modules.
A laminator can be compared with an oven. Instead of rods,
oil transmits the heat to the heating plate and distributes it
uniformly over the entire surface. The quality of the lamination
depends on temperature, distribution and stability.
The laminator needs suffi cient oil to ensure correct encapsulation
of a module. Therefore, two Liquiphant vibration
point level switches are installed to monitor the level in the oil
tank. When the minimum level is reached, they give a warning
to the operator who can react immediately. Endress+Hauser’s
Prowirl vortex fl owmeter ensures that the heated oil is fed
correctly.
Contact: Lukas Hablützel, Global Industry Manager
Renewable Energies
Email: Lukas.Habluetzel@ch.endress.com
www.endress.com/renewable-energies
Endress+Hauser
Instruments International AG
Kägenstrasse 2
4153 Reinach/BL1
Switzerland
The power of sustainable solutions.
For many years now, Endress+Hauser invests in the development of measuring solutions that ensure the reliable and
efficient production of biodiesel, ethanol, biogas and solar energy. Our innovative technology plays an important role in
controlling the production of photovoltaic cells and in smoothly running solar thermal power plants. We’ve always focused
our energies on thinking ahead, and will continue doing so.
Phone +41 61 715 81 00
Fax +41 61 715 25 00
info@ii.endress.com
www.endress.com

www.swisscleantech.ch www.cleantech-switzerland.com