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housing

Switzerland to Halve Its Already Tiny Emissions by 2030

Switzerland to Halve Its Already Tiny Emissions by 2030

written by Edouard Stenger

While the surrounding European Union is sticking to its guns with 40 percent greenhouse gases emissions reductions by 2030, Switzerland is showing some leadership by targeting 50 percent cuts by 2030. This is a bold move that deserves to inspire people and countries alike.

Having searched the Internet, I found that Swiss electricity comes almost entirely from low carbon sources with 56 percent of hydro and 39 percent of nuclear. The five remaining percent comes from thermal and renewables alike.

The electricity produced in Switzerland emits a tiny 14 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per kiloWatt-hour as the local newspaper Le Temps reports. This has to be compared to an average of 353 grams per kWh of average in the European Union and over 600 grams in the United States (source)

As a result, Swiss citizens emits very low level of carbon dioxide per capita, a mere 6.4 tonnes per capita per year, compared to 8.1 tonnnes for the average EU citizen and a massive 17 tonnes for a US one.

This is why the Swiss decision to halve their emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 is a bold, ambitious move. The country is already at levels that would make others dream. Of course, the fact that Switzerland is a rich country surrounded by mountains makes it easy to have massive hydro capacity. The same Alps mountains are seeing their glaciers decrease each year by rapidly warming temperatures.

The Swiss government plans to reach these goals by concentrating its efforts on the transportation and housing sectors. Industry will also have a role to play.

The official statement stresses the point that the decision is in line with the recommendations from the IPCC climate scientists and is made ahead of the Paris climate talks that will take place in December this year.



May 11, 2015 0 comment
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Energy precarity hits a fifth of the French population

Energy precarity hits a fifth of the French population

written by Edouard Stenger

Winter is coming. And this is a problem as according to the latest official statistics, one French citizen out of five has trouble paying his / her heating bills or is feeling cold at home in winter. And as a French who wrote his Master’s thesis on that topic, this really bugs me.

A white paper published in the second Chirac presidency – 2003 – stated that there were at the time almost 20 million housings to weatherize and insulate in France. 

Over ten years after, these figures are still almost the same as the goal of improving half a million housings per year wasn’t met either by President Jacques Chirac, his successor Nicolas Sarkozy and the incumbent. And this despite, the recent moderate efforts in this domain.

State and local ( from the Région or the Département ) aids have been cut because of the crisis and the resulting austerity. And when they haven’t been cut they are either difficult to obtain or too little to represent any convenience. The French Environment and Energy Management Agency, the ADEME, has seen its budget been cut in 2013 ( by half a billion euros, no less ) and in 2014.

But what really racks my nerves is that very little is done to insulate social housings, which represent four million accommodations and 14 million people out of 65 million.

In an old article I wrote as early as 2007 I noted that these housings are all too often badly insulated and that the tenants don’t have much money to pay gas and oil bills. However, I noted back then that insulating these buildings and changing the heating systems were a very sound investment.

In an example broadcasted by the French/German TV channel Arte the energy needs of two buildings in Germany were more than halved thanks to insulation. Energy conservation efforts were promoted, cutting energy needs by an additional 15 percent.

As a conclusion, the energy now needed there was nearly cut by a factor three. This made it possible to use a renewable energy source to heat the 64 flats. Wood pellets were chosen and a new highly efficient boiler was installed. The new system is so efficient that it can generate some electricity which can be used by the tenants or sold to the grid.

Imagine if all social housings in France, and let’s be ambitious in the European Union , were receiving the same treatment. Dozens of millions of people wouldn’t be cold at home during winter, thousands of jobs would be created for decades and our dependence on Russian natural gas would be cut for ever.

 



December 2, 2014 1 comment
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How Energy Efficiency’s Story is Changing

written by Walter Wang

Not so long ago, news about energy efficiency focused on what the US could or should do, but wasn’t to save energy. It was a tale of woe.

That’s no longer the case. Now, report after report tells the story of a burgeoning energy efficiency market that is achieving a level of surprising savings.

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March 22, 2013 2 comments
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France studying carbon tax introduction & possible negative effects

written by Edouard Stenger

France is currently thinking of enacting a carbon tax to increase climate change mitigation efforts. If enacted, it would be applied to the consumption of energy in general.

With French electricity being mostly low carbon, the majority of the tax revenues would come from the transportation and housing sectors.

It is worth noting that this new tax would be compensated by a decrease in charges associated to labor.

A ton of carbon dioxide would cost emitters €32 euros (around $45) in 2010 and would bring the government an estimated €8.73 billion ($12.328 billion) during the first year.

Out of these, €3.57 billion would be collected from French households and the remaining €5.16 billion from companies and administrations.

In order to divide greenhouse gases emissions by a factor of four by 2050, the tax would increase with time to reach €56 ($80) in 2020, €100 ($140) in 2030 and around €200 ($280) in 2050.

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July 21, 2009 4 comments
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