Conveners
Sustainability: Sustainability
- Peter Millington (University of Manchester)
Sustainability: Sustainability
- Heinrich Schindler (CERN)
Sustainability: Sustainability
- Claire David (AIMS South Africa)
The "Workshop on Sustainable High Energy Physics" was initiated as an international grassroots initiative by early and mid-career researchers in 2021. It was organized as a virtual workshop and featured a three-day program with keynote lectures, panel discussions, and contributed talks. The 2nd edition took place in 2022, and the 3rd edition in 2024. The workshop series focuses on all aspects...
The impact of large scale scientific infrastructure such as accelerators, observatories and big data centres cannot be denied. This presentation is based on the recently published reflection document covering the HECAP+ communities (High Energy Physics, Cosmology, Astroparticle Physics, and Hadron and Nuclear Physics). It reflects on the environmental impacts of work practices and research...
As computing becomes substantial for achieving scientific and social progress, its environmental implications often remain underestimated. While the value of scientific computing is witnessed by its ubiquitous achievements, its growing demands have lead, in turn, to increased energy and carbon footprint costs.
With the goal of describing such computational trace in subnuclear physics (SNP),...
With the LHCb experiment upgraded at CERN to handle 14 TeV proton-proton collisions, demand for data processing surged, requiring a redesigned acquisition chain. The LHCb Datacenter, powered by 3MW, 4000 nodes, and 200 Data Acquisition machines, is pivotal. This paper explores sustainability and performance optimization in the Datacenter, emphasizing eco-friendly cooling solutions like...
The ATLAS Collaboration operates a large, distributed computing infrastructure: almost 1M cores of computing and almost 1 EB of data are distributed over about 100 computing sites worldwide. These resources contribute significantly to the total carbon footprint of the experiment, and they are expected to grow by a large factor as a part of the experimental upgrades for the HL-LHC at the end of...
Monte Carlo simulations of scattering processes with many particles require enormous computing power. Particularly in view of the HL-LHC, an improvement in efficiency is necessary in order to be able to carry out the desired investigations in an economically sensible way. We show that employing a sophisticated neural network emulation of QCD multijet matrix elements based on dipole...
High-precision calculations are crucial for the success of the LHC physics programme. However, the soaring computational complexity for high-multiplicity final states is threatening to become a debilitating bottleneck in the coming years. At the same time, the rapid proliferation of non-traditional GPU-based computing hardware in data centres around the world demands an overhaul of the event...
Different families of gaseous detectors used in particle physics experiments are operated with gas mixtures containing greenhouse gases (GHGs), like C2H2F4, CF4, C4F10 and SF6. Given their high Global Warming Potential (GWP) and the increasingly stringent European regulations regarding the use and trade of these gases, different strategies have been implemented by EP-DT Gas Team to reduce GHG...
ATLAS RPC detectors have been operated with a gas mixture selected after an extensive R&D work and consisting of 94.7% C2H2F4, 5.% i-C4H10, and 0.3% SF6. The gas mixture has a high environmental impact, having a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of about 1400. So all possible measures to reduce its dispersion into the atmosphere should be put in place.
The contribution of RPC detectors to...
In High Energy Physics Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) detectors are typically operated in avalanche mode, making use of a high-performance gas mixture which main component, Tetrafluoroethane (C2H2F4), is classified as a fluorinated high Global Warming Potential greenhouse gas.
The RPC EcoGas@GIF++ Collaboration is pursuing an intensive R&D on new gas mixtures for RPC detectors to explore...
Saturated fluorocarbons (CnF(2n+2)) are chosen for their optical properties as Cherenkov radiators, with C4F10 and CF4 used in COMPASS and LHCb RICH1&2. Non-conductivity, non-flammability and radiation resistance make them ideal coolants with C6F14 used in all LHC experiments, while C3F8 evaporatively cools the ATLAS silicon tracker. These fluids however have high GWPs (>5000*CO2).
While not...
Fluorinated fluids used for particle detection and detector cooling in the LHC experiments are the dominant contribution to CERN’s direct (scope 1) greenhouse gas emissions. For the first major upgrade of LHCb, installed during the Long Shutdown 2 of the LHC, significant efforts were made to identify and validate environmentally friendly alternatives to perfluorocarbon coolants (in particular...
With the ambition to maintain competitiveness of European accelerator-based research
infrastructures, the Horizon Europe project Innovate for Sustainable Accelerating Systems (iSAS) has been approved. Within total 17 academic and industrial partners, the objective of iSAS is to develop, prototype and validate new impactful energy-saving technologies so that SRF accelerators use significantly...
With the ever-increasing requirement for sustainability in the modern age, it is crucial to understand the environmental impact of High Energy Physics (HEP) and related fields, especially considering the field's high resource consumption. This talk attempts to quantify the carbon footprints associated with four categories: Experiment, corresponding to the large infrastructure within HEP...
Scientists are becoming more aware of the impact of their activities on the environment. They also want to base their analysis of the situation on measurements, leading to decisions to minimise their contribution to climate change and pollution. With this in mind, scientists in French labs started the Labos 1point5 collective in 2019, to collect what is already ongoing, study how research is...
As the World’s largest particle physics research laboratory, CERN strives to deliver world-class scientific results and knowledge, while embedding environmental responsibility and sustainability in its activities. This contribution will present CERN’s approach for environmentally responsible research, outlining the present footprint of the Organization and the current projects aimed at...
The ISIS-II Neutron and Muon source is the proposed next generation of, and successor to, the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the United Kingdom. Anticipated to start construction in 2032, the ISIS-II project presents a unique opportunity to incorporate environmental sustainability practices from its inception.
A (Simplified) Life Cycle Assessment...
In this talk, we will discuss the studies presented in PRX ENERGY 2, 047001, where the carbon impact of the Cool Copper Collider (C$^3$), a proposed e$^{+}$e$^{-}$ linear collider operated at 250 and 550 GeV center-of-mass energy, is evaluated. We introduce several strategies to reduce the power needs for C$^3$ without modifications in the ultimate physics reach. We also propose a metric to...
The European Laboratory Directors Group that coordinates European programme of accelerator R&D, took recently the decision to establish a working group on sustainability assessment of future accelerators. Working group mandate is to develop guidelines and a minimum set of key indicators pertaining to the methodology and scope of the reporting of sustainability aspects for future HEP projects....
Sustainability has become a prioritized goal in the design, planning and implementation of future accelerators; approaches to improved sustainability include overall system design, optimization of subsystems, and operational concepts. A direct quantification of the ecological footprint, is currently performed only sporadically, with Lifecycle Assessments (LCA) emerging as a more comprehensive...
