FAQs

The topic of air travel always raises many questions. This FAQ page aims to answer some of them. If your question is not addressed, please write to sustainability@ethz.ch.

In 2017, greenhouse gas emissions from air travel at ETH Zurich accounted for around 18,000 tCO₂eq of the 150,000 tCO₂eq total emissions. This corresponds to approximately 12%. A listing of ETH's total greenhouse gas emissions, divided into different categories, can be found in the White Paper on ETH Net Zero 2030.

On the Principles and Methods page, the fundamentals on which the air travel project is based are described in more detail, and the Emissions Calculation by atmosfair page provides information on the calculation of emissions data by the external partner atmosfair.

To calculate the ecological footprint of your air travel, you can use an ecological footprint calculator. You will find a selection of these on the page Travel Decision Tools.

In a participatory process in 2019, all 16 ETH departments and some central units set themselves reduction targets for air travel emissions between 5% and 50% for the year 2025. The targets relate to the base years 2016-2018 and to emissions per full-time equivalent (FTE). In 2021, some departments increased their reduction targets, so that the ETH-wide reduction target, which is the average of the individual targets, is now 15% by 2025.

The external page Mobitool comparison calculator (in German) can be used to calculate the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of various means of transportation. The external page Omio website shows connections by train, bus and plane for a trip with the respective duration and costs.

In addition to emissions, travel time plays a crucial role when choosing a mode of transport. For trips from Zurich to nearby foreign countries, Download this map of Europe provides information.

Apart from the external page SBB booking portal, there are a number of websites through which train tickets can be booked, for example:

Website external page "The Train Line"
Website external page "Omio"

On the Travel Decision Tools page there are further resources that can help decide between different types of mobility.

For larger events, ETH Zurich's video conferencing service (Multimedia Technologies; MMT) operates video conferencing rooms at the Zentrum (HG, LEE) and Hönggerberg (HCI, HIT) locations. In addition, advice on local videoconferencing installation in departments and institutes as well as on standard equipment for meeting rooms of various sizes can be requested.

Additional information can be found on the Travel Decision Tools page.