Jakob Burkhardt
Russia is attacking Ukraine and Switzerland is helping to fund it. Day by day Switzerland pays Millions to Russia for oil, natural gas and coal. Even though the policies of the Russian government have been evident for years, Switzerland remains true to its imports.
We fund Putin’s actions
Europe pays several hundred million euros a day to Russia for oil, gas and coal. Gas in particular is of great importance. About 40% of the gas in Europe is coming from Russia (SWI, 2022). This also applies to Switzerland. In 2020, Switzerland procured 47% from Russia. 24% was obtained from Norway and 19% from the EU (SRF, 2022a). Russian gas is therefore quite relevant for Switzerland’s energy supply (SRF, 2022b).
Figure 1: Origin of the gas consumed in Switzerland (SRF, 2022a)
Switzerland is world champion in not acting
In February 2022, Russia invades Ukraine. Suddenly, no one wants Putin’s gas anymore. The Swiss are calling for independence from Russian gas. The Swiss are calling for renewable energies. But that won’t happen that quickly. It’s a process.
The most important renewable energy sources are solar energy, wind energy and hydropower. The potential of hydropower is relatively well used in Switzerland regarding its potential. However, the growing of the solar energy sector and wind energy sector seems to have stalled. This is despite the fact, that these are no longer «technical curiosities» but simple and inexpensive energy sources (Muntwyler & Schüpbach, 2020). Today, renewable energies account for about 10% of Swiss energy consumption. Of this, 87% is produced in Switzerland (BFE, 2021). The fact that the share is not greater than 10% is not due to a lack of potential or the price. Renewable energy obviously has an enormous potential and is actually rather cheap. Also a large proportion of the population supports the promotion of renewable energies (SRF, 2022).
For me, there are five main reasons why renewable energy does not yet account for more than 10% in Switzerland. Especially in the sector of photovoltaics (PV), there is still enormous potential.
- Electricity price predictions were wrong. In the past, it was often expected that energy from renewable energy sources would be significantly more expensive than energy from fossil energy sources in the near future. It was assumed that they would only be comparable in price in the distant future. However, this assumption has not been confirmed. There are various studies that have attempted to make electricity price predictions for photovoltaic systems. Two examples are a study from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) in 2012 and a study from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in 2017. If we compare today’s photovoltaic electricity prices with the predictions of the ETHZ and the PSI, we can already see major differences. ETHZ predicted a price of 20-30 Rappen/kWh for 2020 and a price of 6-10 Rappen/kWh for 2050. The PSI predicted a price of 8-19 Rappen/kWh for 2050. The price today is already lower than the ETHZ and PSI predictions for 2050. Despite these findings, this fact is not very well communicated (Muntwyler & Schüpbach, 2020). Only a few know about the price situation.
- There are various legal barriers. The law should make it as easy as possible for companies as well as private individuals to set up a photovoltaic system (PV system). However, this is not the case in Switzerland. Neighbouring countries such as Germany are one step ahead of us here. Various legal regulations in Switzerland ensure that the installation of a PV system is relatively laborious and complex. For example, there is also a so called «Positionspapier» that recommends PV systems on roofs over PV systems on open land areas. It states for example: «Free-standing photovoltaic systems can […] only be permitted in exceptional cases». This severely restricts the possibility of installing larger and cheaper PV systems. Thus, there are mainly small PV systems below 1 MWp. In 2018, there were just two installations over 1 MWp in Switzerland (Muntwyler & Schüpbach, 2020). This is only one of several such legal barriers.
- The electricity grid is currently not designed for a lot of solar energy to be produced. Electricity grid operators therefore have no great interest in many different private individuals having a PV system. If you have a PV system, you produce more electricity during the day when the sun is shining than you actually need for your own needs. The surplus electricity can be fed into the grid and the operator of the PV system receives a so-called feed-in tariff. This is unproblematic if little solar energy is produced. However, if every private household has a PV system, there is an oversupply of electricity and the electricity price drops to zero. That is why electricity grid operators keep the feed-in tariff low. As a solution for that, a minimum price for energy could be an option here.
- Renewable energies can only be stored to a limited extent. Yet, it is not possible to store solar energy or wind energy in relevant quantities during peak times (when there is a lot of sun or a lot of wind). This problem has been known for a long time and should have been addressed much earlier in research. Instead of tinkering with more efficient combustion engines, the development of batteries with greater storage capacity would probably be of greater importance.
In fact, much more efficient batteries with higher storage capacity are already being developed today. One can criticise Elon Musk on many levels, but in terms of battery development, he has probably made a relevant contribution to the future. - There is a lobby of the «old technologies» and no lobby of renewable energies (Muntwyler & Schüpbach, 2020). Many business models depend on the fact that the «old technologies» such as gas heating or gas cookers remain widespread. Still only a few business models really depend on renewable energies at the moment. Thus it is obvious and even understandable that a certain opposition wants to slow down the growing of renewable energies.
From my point of view, it is also up to the state to make sure that investment in renewable energies as easy as possible and to implement economic incentives. Thereby also companies that were originally dependent on the «old technologies» have the opportunity for a transition.
Of course, there are more reasons. For me, these five seem the most significant. In my opinion, the above points are all manageable. The first point seems to be no longer a limiting factor. We have it in black and white that the price is low (Muntwyler & Schüpbach, 2020). It just needs to be communicated as well. The fourth point still needs some time. However, the progress of the last few years is enormous. Therefore, here we can be confident too. Regarding points two, three and five, it is important that the state participates and creates the right framework conditions.
«Sustainable cities are a peace project»
It is a pity that it takes a war for us to demand independence from Russian gas and to promote renewable energies. The mentioned framework conditions above should have been implemented years ago. However, now it would be definitely the time for Switzerland to act, instead of reacting in the years to come. Especially in red-green cities – such as Zurich, Bern, Basel etc. – the implementation of such framework conditions should be possible relatively quickly. With such conditions cities in Switzerland can quickly become «sustainable cities», contribute to SDG 7 and SDG 11 and stop supporting wars.
Sources:
https://www.srf.ch/news/international/krieg-in-der-ukraine-160-000-ohne-strom-mariupol-droht-laut-buergermeister-katastrophe
https://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/schweiz-energie_-kommenden-winter-wird-europa-kaum-ohne-russisches-gas-auskommen-/47430910
https://www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-84908.html
http://www.pvtest.ch/Dokumente/Publikationen/276_PV%20bremsen%20mit%20Studien%20am%20Beispiel%20der%20Schweiz%20Muntwyler%20et%20al.pdf