The energy company IWB is planning to install one of the largest heat pump systems in Switzerland using water from the Rhine river, reported SRF this week. The new facility is expected to heat around 5,000 homes in Basel. Such water-based heat pump technology is already being deployed in other locations in Switzerland. In the […]
Climate change behind 60 percent of Swiss heat deaths
A study published this week estimates 60% of heat wave deaths in Switzerland in 2022 were the result of human-induced climate change. The authors estimated that 370 of the 623 deaths due to heat between June and August 2022 were due to human-induced climate change. These additional deaths represent 3.5% of all deaths. The estimate […]
Green light given for solar panels on Swiss motorways
This week, FEDRO, Switzerland’s federal road authority, gave a green light to install solar panels along the edges of motorways and on the roofs of buildings at motorway rest areas. More than 400 groups of solar panels will be installed on the federal road network’s 350 noise barriers and 100 roadside roofs over the next […]
Brienz rock slide – residents allowed back to stay
On 3 July 2023, the municipality announced that the residents of the village of Brienz, who have lived under the cloud of a potentially catastrophic rock slide for many months, could move back into the village to stay. After a huge rock fall on 15 June 2023, the municipality announced on 22 June 2023 that […]
Environment – no heating system subsidies before 2025
On 18 June 2023, Swiss voters passed a package of emission cutting actions, among them subsidies to incentivise home owners to change fossil fuel heating systems. This week, Albert Rösti, Switzerland’s energy minister, unveiled dates for the expected roll out of the plan, reported SRF. Subsidies should be available from the beginning of 2025. The […]
Rising electric car numbers cut Swiss vehicle emissions
In 2022, 26.1% of newly registered passenger vehicles in Switzerland were plug-in, up 3.6 percentage points from 22.5% in 2021. And the percentage of diesels fell from 17.4% to 11.4%, a drop of 6 percentage points. The percentage of fully electric cars – plug-in vehicles includes hybrids – rose even faster from 13.4% to 17.9%, […]
Recycling upgrade: Switzerland to get milk in PET
Many municipalities in Switzerland do not offer recycling of the box-based packaging typically used for milk in Switzerland. Despite ecological proclamations and a papery look these boxes are a bit of a eco-wolf in environmentally friendly sheep’s clothing. They are made of a composite material that is difficult to separate into its constituent parts making […]
Swiss electricity prices to rise further in 2024
This week, VSE, an electricity association, said pricey electricity markets will likely lead to even higher Swiss electricity prices in 2024. Prices rose on average by 27% (+6 cents/kWh) in Switzerland in 2023. In 2024 VSE expects them to rise by a further 12% (+3 cents/kWh). This would bring the average price to almost 30 […]
Brienz rock slide – residents allowed back into village from Monday
The Swiss village of Brienz and the mountainside above it have been slowly sliding into the valley probably since the ice age. More recently the slope above the village started to move rapidly. On 9 May 2023, village residents were told they must evacuate by 6pm on 12 May 2023. Then during the night of […]
WWF hits out at barbecue meat discounts
Meat for barbecues is often heavily discounted while discounts on plants-based products are relatively rare, according to a study by WWF Switzerland, reported RTS. Animal products benefitted from more frequent and higher discounts, said WWF. Out of 150 products discounted in Switzerland between the end of April and mid-May 2023, 95% were animal products, which […]
