SPADE
The SPADE Project (Sustainability Principles and Advice for Design and Engineering) aims to create a platform where tips, techniques, and guidelines on sustainable design can be compiled and shared. It provides STFC design and engineering staff with the tools to make more sustainable choices on projects and reduce the environmental impact of designs during the review process.
SPADE contains resources related to cryogenics, shielding, electrical, design-for-manufacturing, standards, and life-cycle analysis, among many other things.
Sustainability at other research institutions
DESY is a large research campus in Hamburg, Germany, with around 3000 employees and several large accelerator facilities including PETRA III, FLASH, and the European XFEL. DESY now has a dedicated sustainability unit, led by Denise Völker, which aims to set up effective and trustworthy sustainability management and to establish a culture of responsibility for resources.
CERN, located near Geneva in Switzerland, is Europe’s largest physics laboratory, with around 2500 staff members and many more visiting scientists. CERN is committed to reducing its energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, waste, and noise. CERN also works to conserve biodiversity and develop environmental technologies. For more information, see this page on CERN’s website.
Fermilab is one of the USA’s leading particle physics laboratories, with around 2000 employees working on its site in Batavia, Illinois. Fermilab is committed to sustainable practices by minimising its environmental impact. They achieve this through energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, and responsible waste management. Fermilab also educates its staff on environmental awareness to make sustainability a long-lasting aspect of the lab.
European networks
Innovation Fostering in Accelerator Science and Technology (I.FAST) is a European project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation plow carogramme. The goal of I.FAST is to maintain Europe’s leadership in particle accelerator science. They aim to achieve this by developing new sustainable technologies and transferring existing technologies to other scientific fields. The project will also create jobs and contribute to long-term economic growth. It is a 4-year project, ending in April 2025, with a total budget of €18.7m spread across 14 work packages and a Europe-wide consortium of 48 participating research institutes and companies.
The Innovate for Sustainable Accelerator Systems (iSAS) project aims to develop energy-saving technologies for superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) accelerators used in research facilities and future industrial applications. They target three areas of power loss: RF power, cryogenics, and the beam itself.
By integrating these technologies into research facilities, iSAS hopes to pave the way for sustainable accelerator systems. They will also create training programs to ensure expertise in operating these new technologies. The project’s ultimate goal is to make SRF accelerators more widely accepted and contribute to a “green” Europe.
Sustainability in HECAP+is an initiative of scientists in the High Energy Physics, Cosmology, Astroparticle Physics, and Hadron and Nuclear Physics (HECAP+) communities concerned about the climate crisis and advocating for a transition towards fairer and more sustainable practices in our fields. They have written a white paper which is available from their website.