Jonas Schnidrig

Jonas Schnidrig is a Lecturer at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), affiliated with the School of Engineering (STI) and the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC). He works as an External Employee in the SCI STI FM Group at EPFL Valais Wallis, based at the IPESE institute in Sion. His research focuses on sustainable energy policy and planning, specializing in energy system modeling, optimization, and decision support for the energy transition. He actively bridges research, industry, government, and society by developing strategies that balance ecological, social, and economic dimensions of energy transitions.

Dr. Schnidrig's educational background includes:

• PhD in Mechanical Engineering (Energy and Technologies) from EPFL-HES-So Valais Wallis (2020-2024)
• Master's in Mechanical Engineering (Thermodynamics & Energetics) from EPFL (2018-2020)
• Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from EPFL (2013-2018)

His research interests span sustainable energy system modeling, life cycle assessment, renewable energy planning, rational use of energy, and thermoeconomic optimization. He specializes in energy system integration, incorporating sustainability metrics into energy planning, policy support for sustainable energy transitions, and renewable energy finance and infrastructure planning. His work emphasizes a life-cycle perspective to evaluate the ecological, social, and economic dimensions of energy systems.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong focus on decentralized energy systems, multi-actor energy planning, and the integration of environmental metrics into energy modeling. His research demonstrates how strategic decentralization can reduce system costs by up to 10% while increasing self-consumption by up to 68%. He has pioneered methodologies that integrate life-cycle impact assessment into energy system modeling, showing potential for 15-47% cost reductions alongside 31-81% reductions in environmental impacts.

His notable scientific achievement includes:

• Zanelli Prize for outstanding contribution to sustainable development (2020)

Dr. Schnidrig coordinates the EnergyScope Community, which brings together over 50 researchers and practitioners, and contributes to major international projects including EnergyScope Community, Net Zero Valais, and collaborations with Polytechnique Montréal, Hydro Québec, and Swiss energy institutions. He supervises semester and master projects at EPFL and teaches the course "Sustainability, climate and energy" (ENV-421).

He leads research on digital twins for cities within the Blue City project and focuses on understanding the role of infrastructure in high share renewable energy systems, investigating synergies across different scales, and developing sustainable energy systems that align economic efficiency with environmental sustainability.