The potential of technological innovation is vast, and when it comes to limiting the impact of harmful activities on our environment – such as energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions – it holds a particular significance. In this context, innovative ideas and technologies developed at research centres like CERN represent a promising opportunity to stimulate positive environmental impact.

The identified strategic sectors and sub-domains with high potential impact and strong synergies with CERN’s technical domains of expertise are:

• renewable and low-carbon energy (production, transformation, distribution, storage),
• clean transportation and future mobility (aviation, shipping, rail and automotive),
• climate change and pollution control (monitoring, modelling, mitigation),
• sustainability and green science (power management, heat management, industrial processes).

Some possible examples include superconducting technologies for high efficiency power distribution, cryogenics and vacuum systems  for advanced hydrogen storage, and big data analysis tools for global scale climate simulations.

How can CERN make our planet more sustainable?

Renewable energy, clean transportation, pollution control, climate monitoring, nature protection, green science... These are all goals to ensure a healthier and sustainable planet, able to support the needs of future generations.

Acknowledging global environmental challenges, CERN is taking steps to move from serendipity to a conscious effort to harness its unique skillset to help society’s efforts to preserve the planet.

Whether it is more energy efficient cooling systems or innovative sensors for monitoring pollution, algorithms allowing faster and more efficient computing or superconducting transmission lines minimising power losses, solutions supporting the raising hydrogen economy or the simulation of global scale phenomena, new disruptive technologies are emerging at CERN sowing the seeds for our ecological transition.

Four main sectors with high impact potential and strong synergies with CERN’s technical domains of expertise have been identified: renewable and low-carbon energy, clean transportation and future mobility, climate change and pollution control, sustainability and green science. Several flagship projects are under implementation in these areas, in collaboration with external partners and with the support of CERN’s Knowledge Transfer Group.

In addition, in line with CERN’s main objectives for the period 2021-25, the Organization has endorsed the CERN Innovation Programme on Environmental Applications (CIPEA) in 2022.

In the frame of CIPEA, new ideas on how to address major environmental challenges through CERN technologies, know-how and facilities have been collected from experts, and the most promising concepts are now under implementation.

Environment related news 

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Towards the first superconducting magnet in space

In space, high-field superconducting magnets based on high temperature superconductive (HTS) materials can have several promising applications: from very high resolution astroparticle spectrometry, to active shielding to protect astronauts from harmful radiation, and even debris removal.

One leading project in this field is the HTS Demonstrator Magnet for Space (HDMS), developed with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the University of Trento, TIFPA and INFN Milano. In the event of a successful demonstration, a scaled-up model could be integrated into a space experiment to become the first ever superconducting magnet for space.

ARCOS (Astroparticle Research Compact Orbital Spectrometer) is a conceptual compact magnetic spectrometer operating in space. Gathering the same partners, it relies on the development of a high-field HTS magnet system suitable for long-term operation in space. An HTS demonstrator coil for the ARCOS magnet is being built within the HDMS project.

A family of pixel detector read-out chips for particle imaging and detection developed by the Medipix Collaborations

The family of Medipix and Timepix read-out chips represents one of CERN’s most successful technology-transfer cases. Developed with the support of four successive Medipix Collaborations involving a total of 37 research institutes, the technology is inspired by the high-resolution hybrid pixel detectors initially developed to address the challenges of particle tracking at the LHC. In hybrid detectors, the sensor array and the read-out chip are manufactured independently and later coupled by a bump-bonding process: this means that a variety of sensors can be connected to the Medipix and Timepix chips, according to the needs of the end user.

The first Medipix chip produced in the 1990s by the Medipix1 collaboration was based on the front-end architecture of the Omega3 chip used by the half-million pixel tracker of the WA97 experiment, but included a counter per pixel: this demonstrated that the chips could work like a digital camera capable of both detecting and counting each individual particle, providing high-resolution, high-contrast, noise hit free images and making them uniquely suitable for medical applications. The successive  collaborations gave rise to  the improved Medipix 2 and 3 chips and the Timepix 2 and 3 chips, with Medipix 4 under development.

One of CERN’s most successful technology transfer cases

Medipix and Timepix chips find applications in widely varied fields – from medical imaging to cultural heritage, space dosimetry, material analysis, education, and the industrial partners and license holders commercialising the technology range from established enterprises to start-up companies.

Medical imaging is at the heart of the Medipix technology and one of its direct applications. One of the most successful cases is the 3D colour X-ray scanner developed by MARS Bioimaging Ltd, using the Medipix3 technology, and which has been widely talked about since 2018. The colour X-ray imaging technique provided by Medipix3 produces clearer and more accurate pictures that should help doctors give their patients more accurate diagnoses. In 2021, the scanner arrived in Europe, at Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) in Switzerland, as part of the international clinical trials to obtain the certifications allowing its medical use.

Associated technologies to have stemmed from the collaboration include the Timepix, Gempix and the VELOpix chip, which have led to new solutions in the high energy physics field. Investments made primarily for Knowledge Transfer have reaped important benefits for CERN’s baseline programme.

From physics simulation tools to biomedical applications

The expertise of particle physicists in data handling and simulation tools are also increasingly finding applications in the biomedical field. The FLUKA and Geant4 simulation toolkits, for example, are being used in several applications, from detector modelling to treatment planning.

Recently, CERN contributed its know-how in large-scale computing to the BioDynaMo collaboration, initiated by CERN openlab together with Newcastle University, which initially aimed to provide a standardised, high-performance and open-source platform to support complex biological simulations. By hiding its computational complexity, BioDynaMo allows researchers to easily create, run and visualise 3D agent-based simulations. It is already used by academia and industry to simulate cancer growth, accelerate drug discoveries and simulate how the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads through the population, among other applications, and is now being extended beyond biological simulations to visualise the collective behaviour of groups in society.

Many more projects related to medical applications are in their initial phases. The breadth of knowledge and skills available at CERN was also evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when the laboratory contributed to the efforts of the particle-physics community in fields ranging from data management tools to open-data repositories, and from  epidemiologic studies to proximity-sensing devices, such as those developed by Terabee.

Born in this context, the CERN Airborne Model for Indoor Risk Assessment. (CAiMIRA) was developed by CERN to help personnel return to work safely by assessing the risk of COVID-19 infection in enclosed spaces like offices or meeting rooms. This is an easy-to-use tool, which CERN has made openly available on GitLab. Over time, the tool was further optimised thanks to the expertise of different departments at CERN and with the help of worldwide experts in infectious diseases.

The software is constantly being improved with the help of experts at CERN and across the world. CARA has a lot of potential and we are exploring its biomedical applications with other collaborators like the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva. Furthermore, recognising its approach to risk assessment of occupational hazards, WHO has invited CERN to become a member of a multidisciplinary working group of international experts, which will work to define a standardised algorithm to quantify airborne transmission risk in indoor settings.

Today, particle physics-related applications in the medical domain represent one of the most relevant knowledge-transfer opportunities in terms of potential impact on society. CERN’s aim is to identify its most promising technologies, know-how and facilities for use in the biomedical and medical physics fields, with a focus on those that are unique to CERN, and of interest to Member and Associate Member States.

By working closely with healthcare, scientific and industrial experts, CERN can ensure it provides solutions to the end-users’ needs.

For more information please see the Strategy and Framework Applicable to Knowledge Transfer by CERN for the Benefit of Medical Applications.

• The CERN Medical Applications Steering Committee (CMASC) selects, prioritises, approves and coordinates all proposed MA projects and their execution within the available budget. It receives input from the Medical Applications Project Forum (MAPF), the CERN Medical Applications Advisory Committee (CMAAC) and various KT bodies;
• The CERN-Member States KT Thematic Forum (KT Forum) brings together CERN and Member State representatives to exchange information and ideas and identify potential partners for participation in KT projects and activities, including those related to medical applications. Associate Member States are also welcome to participate. Every year, at least one meeting of the KT Forum is entirely devoted to the discussion of MA activities;
• The CERN Medical Applications Project Forum (MAPF) identifies the most promising CERN technologies and infrastructures that are relevant to the medical domain, and proposes related projects to the CMASC. It facilitates communication on MA activities between the CERN experts and external bodies;
• The CERN KT Medical Applications Strategy Support Team (KT-MA)  coordinates and provides operational support for CERN’s MA activities. It also negotiates and puts in place the necessary agreements with selected project partners.

The prime example of accelerator technology for fighting cancer

CERN-MEDICIS (Medical Isotopes Collected from ISOLDE) is a one-of-a-kind infrastructure designed to produce a new generation of non-conventional radioisotopes with potential applications in precision medicine and theranostics (therapeutics and diagnostics). These radioisotopes not only help diagnose cancers and other diseases, but can also deliver precise radiation doses to treat diseased cells without destroying the surrounding healthy tissue.

The development of innovative radiopharmaceuticals is in fact strongly connected to the availability of novel types of radioisopotes that are not readily produced by traditional methods. MEDICIS aims to increase the range of radioisotopes,  thanks to its unique set-up that includes an irradiation station on a high-energy proton beam and a radioisotope mass-separation beam-line.

This facility is a prime example of how CERN’s accelerator technology can be deployed for medical research. MEDICIS expands the range of radioisotopes – some of which can be made only at CERN – and sends them to partner hospitals and research centres for further studies. During its 2019 and 2020 harvesting campaigns, for example, MEDICIS demonstrated the capability of purifying isotopes such as ¹⁶⁹Er or ¹⁵³Sm to new purity grades, making them suitable for innovative treatments such as targeted radioimmunotherapy.

MEDICIS was initiated in 2010 by CERN, using contributions from the CERN Knowledge Transfer Fund, private foundations and partner institutes, while also benefitting from a European Commission Marie Skłodowska-Curie training grant. Since December 2017, it has been entirely dedicated to the production of unconventional radioisotopes whose properties are useful to enhance the precision of both patient imaging and treatment.

To make MEDICIS a success, CERN capitalised on its experience of the ISOLDE facility. For more than 50 years, this facility has been using the proton beam from CERNs PS Booster to produce over 1300 different isotopes from 73 chemical elements, thus helping research in many areas, from nuclear physics to the life sciences. During proton-beam operation, MEDICIS works by placing a second target behind ISOLDE’s, so it is entirely transparent to its operation.

MEDICIS is part of the project PRISMAP – the European medical isotope programme, supported by the European Commission. This consortium of 23 institutes works to produce high purity isotopes by mass separation. This EU project is approved for funding by the Research Infrastructures program INFRA-2-2020 of Horizon 2020 of the European Commission.

For more information:

• Isotopes for precision medicine, CERN Courier, 15 January 2018.
• MEDICIS shows its strength, CERN Courier, 18 December 2020.

NIMMS: Towards the new generation of compact and cost-effective ion-therapy facilities

CERN has been actively transferring its technologies to radiotherapy for decades. In 2019, CERN launched the Next Ion Medical Machine Study (NIMMS) to develop cutting-edge accelerator technologies for a new generation of compact and cost-effective ion-therapy facilities. The goal being to propel the use of ion therapy, which uses carbon and other ions heavier than protons. Proton installations are already commercially available but only four such ion centres exist in Europe, all based on bespoke solutions.

NIMMS is organised along four different lines of activities:

• The first aims to reduce the footprint of facilities by developing new superconducting magnet designs with large apertures and curvatures, and for pulsed operation;
• The second is the design of a compact linear accelerator optimised for installation in hospitals, which includes an RFQ based on the design of the proton therapy RFQ, and a novel source for fully-stripped carbon ions;
• The third concerns two innovative gantry designs, with the aim of reducing the size, weight and complexity of the massive magnetic structures that allow the beam to reach the patient from different angles: the SIGRUM lightweight rotational gantry stemming from a collaboration with the  TERA foundation, and the GaToroid gantry invented at CERN which eliminates the need to mechanically rotate the structure by using a toroidal magnet;
• Finally, new high-current synchrotron designs will be developed to reduce the cost and footprint of facilities while reducing the treatment time compared to present European ion-therapy centres: these will include a superconducting and a room-temperature option, and advanced features such as multi-turn injection for 1010 particles per pulse, fast and slow extraction, and multiple ion operation.

Several projects linked to NIMMS activities such as GaToroid have been funded by the CERN Medical Applications budget.

Through NIMMS, CERN is contributing to the efforts of a flourishing European community, and a number of collaborations have been already established. Amongst them is the project HITRIplus (Heavy Ion Therapy Research Integration plus), funded under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, whose target is to foster the adoption of innovative ion therapy technologies.

NIMMS builds on thirty years of CERN expertise in radiotherapy

Between 1996 and 2000, under the impulsion of Ugo Amaldi, Meinhard Regler and Phil Bryant, CERN hosted the Proton-Ion Medical Machine Study (PIMMS). PIMMS produced and made publicly available an optimised design for a cancer-therapy synchrotron capable of using both protons and carbon ions.

After further enhancement by Amaldi’s TERA foundation, and with seminal contributions from Italian research organisation INFN, the PIMMS concept evolved into the accelerator at the heart of the CNAO hadron therapy centre in Pavia. The MedAustron centre in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, was then based on the CNAO design. CERN continues to collaborate with CNAO and MedAustron by sharing its expertise in accelerator and magnet technologies.

In the 2010s, CERN teams put to use the experience gained in the construction of Linac 4, which became the source of proton beams for the LHC in 2020, and developed an extremely compact high-frequency radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) to be used as injector for a new generation of high-frequency, compact linear accelerators for proton therapy. The RFQ technology was licensed to the CERN spin-off ADAM, now part of AVO (Advanced Oncotherapy), and is being used as an injector for a breakthrough linear proton therapy machine at the company’s UK assembly and testing centre at STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory.

For more information:

• CERN takes next step for hadron therapy , CERN Courier, 15 December 2020.
• European projects boost CERN’s medical applications , CERN Courier, 26 January 2021.