WG Environmental Impact - Kickoff

Tuesday 25 Feb 2025, 18:00 → 19:00 Europe/Amsterdam

https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/6894458269

Meeting ID: 689 445 8269

 

 

Kick-off meeting, WG: Environmental Impact

Introduction by M. Turner (slides).

Comments and Discussion:

• CO₂ Emissions and Power Sources: CO₂ emissions from electricity consumption depend heavily on the power source used and are expected to decrease in the future. Due to the difficulty and high uncertainty of estimating power costs, it may not be practical to include power consumption in a cost-optimization process. Solutions based on renewable energy could be available, for example companies can build solar farms with capacities of several hundred MW.
• Material use: Different options for concrete with varying CO₂ footprints are available. However, it is unclear whether low-carbon ones can be produced in large quantities. 
  Previously overlooked, the type of materials and gases (including leakage) significantly impacts the colliders environmental footprint. It is important to assess material usage for different wakefield collider designs to identify potential selection criteria or red flags.
• Metrics: The LDG panel is developing sustainability metrics, with a draft report expected within the next month. These metrics will guide the evaluation of proposals at different design stages, including tables to be filled out, and will be applicable to wakefield colliders.
  For a 10 TeV collider, it may not be meaningful to evaluate based on expected physics improvements, as the expected physics is not well understood. However, luminosity should be considered—metrics like luminosity per kg of CO₂ would be more relevant than luminosity per unit of power.
  It would be beneficial to present different scenarios and highlight trade-offs. Also, it may be practical to start by analyzing a smaller part of the facility and then scale up.
• Approach: It was suggested to start with system integration to visualize the collider’s design. For example, housing laser systems may require a shorter but wider tunnel. It should also be considered whether the tunnel or laser systems could be placed on the surface. It makes sense to separate between the environmental impact of facility construction and operation.
• Previous work: According to the CLIC analysis (S. Stapnes, Sustainability Studies for Higgs Factories, JPS 20.3.2024), the CO₂ footprint is largely driven by construction, with another significant peak during decommissioning.
• Coordination Between WGs: Efforts of the WGs on Environmental Impact and System Integration should run in parallel, with effective communication and possibly joint meetings.  Both WGs should clearly define the inputs required from other WGs.

Next steps: 

• Wait for the LDG draft document to be published. Then, organize a meeting to discuss the metrics to be used and the scope of the analysis.
• Define what inputs are needed from other WGs.

 

18:00 → 18:20 Introduction

Speakers: Caterina Vernieri (SLAC), Marlene Turner (CERN)

slides-kickoff.pdf

18:20 → 19:00 Discussion