News and Events

Urban solutions for our future energy needs.

Published:29.11.21 — Professor Lyesse Laloui has presented the results of a project to implement and explore the potential of underground energy structures at the Subterra Conference in Madrid.

Prof Lyesse Laloui to deliver the prestigious Vienna Terzaghi Lecture

Published:22.11.21 — The Vienna Terzaghi Lecture 2022 has been awarded to Professor Lyesse Laloui of EPFL. Since 1997, the combined lecture and award have been given biennially to internationally renowned geotechnical engineers by the Association of Austrian Drilling, Well Construction and Foundation Engineering Companies (VÖBU), the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects (ÖIAV), the Austrian National Committee (ASMGE) of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) and the Institute of Geotechnics, Foundation Engineering, Soil and Rock Mechanics at the University of Vienna.

Energy Geotechnics, SEG-2018-in high demand

Published:22.11.21 — Energy Geotechnics has proven to be a highly successful publication with more than 72 thousand chapter downloads since first being published in 2019.

Will Switzerland store CO2 underground?

Published:01.11.21 — In order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, Switzerland will have to choose between exporting carbon dioxide or storing it underground. In the article published by Tribune de Genève and 24heures the experts share their opinions about the possible solutions.

Developing laboratory expertise to foster CO2 ground storage

Published:28.10.21 — Human-induced global warming is impacting different regions around the world, with the most recent IPCC report again highlighting the urgency of the climate crisis. To mitigate the impact of climate change, drastic and rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are needed. Only through implementing a portfolio of measures and treating the climate change crisis like an actual crisis, can the goals set in the 2015 Paris Agreement be met.

Using heat from underground parking lots to warm apartments

Published:07.10.21 — EPFL spin-off Enerdrape has developed technology that can recover heat from underground parking lots and use it to warm the apartments above. Its geothermal wall panels are currently undergoing pilot tests at a building in Lausanne’s Sébeillon district.

Interview with Prof. Laloui in Le Temps

Published:07.09.21 — The canton of Geneva is launching a campaign to map its subsoil for geothermal exploitation. In this context, Prof. Lyesse Laloui is interviewed by Le Temps to shed light on some of the most interesting aspects of this subject.

Laloui Research Group in an article by AGEFI

Published:06.09.21 — Green building energetics occupied a central role during the Rent fair, a melting pot of Swiss real estate professionals and stakeholders, during which, start-ups of the LMS as well as its director, Prof. Lyesse Laloui made a distinguished appearance. An article, by Christian Affolter, on startups and building energetics was dedicated to covering the highlights of the event in the latest edition of AGEFI.

New report details Switzerland's geo-energy potential

Published:01.09.21 — Switzerland has considerable capacity for carbon storage and a bright future in shallow geothermal energy. These are the two main findings presented in Innosuisse’s final report on the 2013–2020 Energy Funding Programme, in the chapter on geo-energy. Lyesse Laloui, a full professor in civil engineering at EPFL, is the chapter’s author and the head of a research group on this topic.

Dr. Ferrari discusses landslides with Heidi News

Published:31.08.21 — In his article of August 28, 2021, Florent Hiard addresses the slippery subject of landslides, where Dr. Alessio Ferrari from the Laloui Research Group (LMS) is consulted as an expert on the subject.