The war in Ukraine has increased concerns about a supply shortage in winter. Who actually heats how in this country? An overview.
What sources of energy are there?
- Heating oil and gas: The so-called “fossil fuels” are the classics in the energy mix.
- Wood: Heating with wood has become more popular again in recent years. Pellets are usually burned.
- Electricity: Electricity can also be used for heating.
- Solar thermal: Solar energy is absorbed by panels on the roof of the building.
- District heating: Hot water is derived from nearby power plants or waste incineration plants.
- heat pump: Energy is drawn from the environment. This comes either from the air, the water or the ground (geothermal energy).
Which energy sources do Swiss households rely on? 60 percent of real estate in Germany is still supplied with oil and gas (41 percent with oil, 18 percent with gas). Because apartment buildings in urban areas are often connected to the gas grid, the figure increases even further when looking at energy sources per capita.
Wherever gas terminals are nearby, fossil fuels dominate. In most major cities, between a third and half of the population uses gas for heating. The more rural a canton, the more heat pumps there are. Twice as many people have access there as in cities.
All about building heating in Switzerland
How is the situation developing? In the last 50 years, the number of buildings supplied with heating oil has fallen sharply. Gas consumption, on the other hand, has increased, as has the use of heat pumps for a number of years. Their number has quadrupled since 2000. 16 percent of properties are now supplied with heat in this way. Where there are many new buildings – as in the canton of Friborg – the proportion of heat pumps is even higher.
According to Timotheus Zehnder, lecturer in heating and cooling technology at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, this trend is likely to continue in rural areas. “In urban areas, on the other hand, district heating networks will prevail. These are operated with waste incineration plants, wood and increasingly also with heat pumps that use lake water or ground water.”
How are politicians reacting? The direction is clear: Away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources. But this change must be made palatable to homeowners and builders: two-thirds of the buildings in Switzerland are privately owned.
These energy subsidies exist
Several cantons have now banned the construction of new oil and gas heating systems. In many cases, this also applies when a heater has exceeded its service life and needs to be replaced. In the canton of Basel-Stadt, heating with fossil fuels could even be completely banned from 2035.
However, most cantons are trying to encourage homeowners to switch away from fossils by means of subsidies. The amounts vary, but usually amount to a few thousand francs – with investment costs of several tens of thousands of francs for a new heating system.
What’s next? The energy dossier enjoys top priority in Bern these days. In the autumn session, Parliament drew up an indirect counter-proposal to the glacier initiative. It includes suggestions for replacing old heaters. Nevertheless, the political debate about the optimal energy mix is unlikely to be over. The Federal Council recently announced that it intends to examine the construction of new gas storage facilities.