Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions for different passenger transport modes. Illustration: Empa
Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions for different passenger transport modes. Illustration: Empa - A lot has happened in 2021: In January, the Swiss government adopted the "Long-Term Climate Strategy for Switzerland" with the goal of net zero by 2050. Over the course of the same year, Empa published a series of research papers on the internal combustion engine. But how does this fit together? Aren't combustion engines yesterday's technology? The familiar engine hum of the 20th century will become quieter in the coming years. "The switch to electric drives will happen gradually," says Christian Bach, head of the Automotive Powertrain Technologies Laboratory at Empa. "But in some applications, it will be difficult or even impossible to do without combustion engines." Even the venerable Deutz AG in Cologne is saying goodbye to the combustion engine as its main business model. The company was founded in 1872 by Nikolaus August Otto, counted Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach among its employees, and built the world's first four-stroke engine in 1876.
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