This talk will explore global climate targets and where we're at in relation to them; key sectors needing to mitigate; key climate impacts and risks arising from failure to mitigate.
Particle physics is entering an era where the environmental impact of large-scale facilities must be evaluated, alongside their cost and physics output. In this talk, we explore the carbon footprint of proposed future collider projects, focusing on strategies to mitigate emissions without compromising physics goals. Using recent studies as a case study, we outline a methodology to quantify and...
This work studies the interaction of cosmic rays, extraterrestrial particles with energies ranging from 10⁶ eV to 10²⁰ eV, which produce secondary particles, including neutrons, when they collide with atmospheric molecules. These neutrons can be used to non-invasively estimate soil moisture through cosmic ray neutron sensors (CRNS), opening the possibility of using this technology in precision...
FlexRICAN (Flexibility in research infrastructures for global carbon neutrality) is a cooperation among three major research infrastructures, each with distinct energy demands i.e., the European Spallation Source ERIC (ESS) in Sweden, the Extreme Light Infrastructure ERIC (ELI), with two running facilities (Czech Republic and Hungary) and the European Magnetic Field Laboratory AISBL (EMFL),...
In response to evolving European and global climate commitments, including the EU Green Deal and related environmental accountability frameworks, ELI ERIC is actively advancing sustainability-focused measures across its operations. The organization is currently developing an ESG roadmap to systematically integrate sustainability into both its operational and technological planning.
A...
The construction of detectors for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have substantial resource demands. As a case study, we examine LHCb Upgrade II, a major replacement of the LHCb detector planned for the 2030s. LHCb estimated Scope I and II carbon emissions for its Framework Technical Design Report, a first of its kind study. A brief overview of these results is given.
In this work, we propose...
The pursuit of particle physics, or any kind of discovery-driven research, requires a stable and prosperous society. Today, our society is increasingly threatened by global climate change. Human-influenced climate change has already impacted weather patterns, and global warming will only increase unless deep reductions in emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases are achieved. Current and...
The climate changes, finite amounts of resources and loss in biodiversity are the three major socio-ecological problems faced by humanity. They have been recognized as urgent matters by international bodies, and regular national recommendations or international agreements set scopes to be reached in the next few decades or even years. As these scopes appear as simultaneously insufficient and...
In this presentation, we will summarise the computing practices adapted by ATLAS users in South Africa, based on a survey that was circulated.
While the main focus of the survey was on distributed computing, we obtained useful feedback on other aspects as well, such as about lack of training and resources. We will highlight these challenges faced by the users, and thoughts on how we can...
The cathode strip chambers (CSCs) of the CMS experiment are a type of multi-wire proportional chamber that operates with a mixture of Ar, CO$_2$, and CF$_4$ gases. CF$_4$ is a well known component preventing aging of the anode wires. It has, however, a high global warming potential (GWP), and reducing our reliance on it is critical for improving the ecological sustainability of the experiment....
The CERN IT department operates the computing, storage and networking infrastructure for most of the services at CERN. The core task is to provide storage, processing and networking for the four LHC experiments. Long term storage is provided in the form of tape libraries with a total capacity of one exabyte, disk storage at the same scale. The 450000 CPU cores are mostly used through IT’s...
Sustainability is becoming an ever-increasing part in the planning, designing and operation of large-scale infrastructures. In HEP this is especially relevant as accelerators that create particle beams and data-centres that analyse data use a lot of energy. Research Facility 2.0 is an EU-funded project with a vision of developing a more sustainable path for the future of research. Its remit...
Cathode strip chambers (CSCs) are a key component of the endcap muon system in the CMS experiment at CERN. There are 540 CSCs successfully operating at CMS with a gas mixture of 40% Ar, 50% CO₂, and 10% CF₄. The chamber longevity study is particularly important in anticipation of the upcoming HL-LHC upgrade and the corresponding CMS detector upgrade, which will result in a significant increase...
Within the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) collaboration, a dedicated sustainability working group began operation in late-2024 with the goal of identifying and mitigating green house gas emissions from operating and analysing the data of the LZ experiment.
We will report the preliminary emissions for dedicated LZ travel activity and the on-site power consumption, then our best vectors and plans for mitigation.
UKRI is supporting the development of a resource to support sustainable research practices. The aim of the hub is to provide a central location for all guidance, certification, emissions quantification, and training regarding a broad set of research activities. UKRI is developing this with the aim that it will be collaboratively supported by multiple European research funders. We are engaging...
The ALICE collaboration is proposing a new apparatus, ALICE 3, to investigate the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) properties in heavy-ion collisions beyond current limits for the LHC Runs 5 and beyond. Precision multi-differential measurements of dielectrons are required to access the time evolution of the QGP medium and chiral symmetry restoration mechanisms. A key ALICE 3 subsystem for dielectron...
Scientists in Germany working on the digitization of research at accelerators and telescopes met at a workshop supported by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, BMBF, in 2023 to discuss sustainability aspects of their research. The outcome was a white paper that is a call to action and describes a portfolio of measures with time scales required for their implementation. To follow...
Sustainability has become a prioritized goal in the design, planning and implementation of future accelerators; approaches to improved sustainability include overall system design, optimisation 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...
The Large Particle Physics Laboratory Directors Group (LDG) established the Working Group on the Sustainability Assessment of Future Accelerators (SWG) in 2024, with the mandate to develop guidelines and a list of key parameters for the assessment of the sustainability of future colliders. The development and continuous update of such a framework is intended to enable coherent communication...
The construction of an electron–positron collider 'Higgs factory' has been stalled for a decade, not because of feasibility but because of the cost of radio-frequency (RF) acceleration. Plasma-wakefield acceleration promises to alleviate this problem due to its orders-of-magnitude higher accelerating gradients, which result in a significant cost reduction based on a sizeable reduction in...
In the field of natural science, there is a customary reluctance to engage in deliberations on economic systems, particularly with regard to the historical debate on capitalism versus communism. Nevertheless, the paper posits that the scientific community can exert influence on the political system by emulating their own organisational and action models within the economic...
Resistive Plate Chamber detectors are largely used in High Energy Physics experiments given their excellent time and space resolution. They are typically operated in avalanche mode with a high-performance gas mixture based on Tetrafluoroethane (C2H2F4) and Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6), both fluorinated high Global Warming Potential greenhouse gases.
The RPC EcoGas@GIF++ Collaboration has...
The LHCb collaboration is currently using a pioneer system of data filtering in the trigger system, based on real time particle reconstruction in Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). This corresponds to processing 5 TB/s of information and has required a huge amount of hardware and software developments. Among them, the corresponding power consumption and sustainability is an imperative matter in...
In this talk, we will describe the studies undertaken at the University of Manchester to estimate and improve the energy efficiency of computing hardware and software used by students and researchers.
The goal of these studies is to build an understanding of the environmental impact of particle physics research focusing on two fronts:
1) the carbon cost of the hardware uses for high power...
\section{Introduction}
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN resumed operation in 2022, achieving 13.6 TeV proton–proton collisions.
During the 2019–2021 shutdown, the \mbox{ALICE} detector was upgraded to handle a 50 kHz interaction rate for Pb--Pb collisions,
increasing data volume tenfold compared to previous data-taking periods.
The ALICE Run 3 and 4 computing model, called O2...
In recent years, CERN has implemented various strategies to minimize the usage of greenhouse gases (GHG) and prevent their release into the atmosphere. Among these gases, CF₄ plays a not-negligible role, as it is responsible for approximately 20% of the CERN direct GHG emissions. Different strategies have been adopted, such as the research for more environmentally friendly gas mixtures to be...
ATLAS, one of two general-purpose experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), operates a large internationally-distributed computing infrastructure, including over 1 EB of managed data on disk and tape and almost one million simultaneously running CPU cores. Upgrades for the High-Luminosity LHC will increase the required computing resources by a factor of 3–4 by the beginning of the 2030s,...
To maximize the potential of dedicated detectors for long-lived particles (LLPs), they must be placed in locations that are optimal for our physics goals. We propose an innovative concept: a dedicated transverse detector for LLPs, called DELIGHT, with its positioning and size optimized for both FCC-ee and FCC-hh. This unique approach would enable the FCC to enhance resource utilization and...
In the context of particle physics, different families of gaseous detectors are operated with fluorinated gases for different purposes at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The main gases used in these detectors are tetrafluoromethane (CF4), tetrafluoroethane (C2H2F4), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), perfluorobutane (C4F10). Given their high Global Warming Potential (GWP) and the...
Saturated fluorocarbons (SFCs:C_nF_(2n+2)) are chosen for their optical properties as Cherenkov radiators, with C_4F_10 and CF_4 used in the COMPASS and LHCb RICH detectors. Non-conductivity, non-flammability and radiation resistance also make SFCs ideal coolants: C_6F_14 liquid cooling is used in all LHC experiments, while C3F8 is used for the evaporative cooling in TOTEM and the ATLAS...
Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) provide key insights into the broad range of environmental impacts associated with a product or system. By providing both a holistic overview and a detailed breakdown of these impacts, LCAs help identify the most effective opportunities for sustainability improvements. As the demand for sustainable practices grows, LCAs will play an increasingly important role in...
