Swiss voters embrace renewable energy

Swiss voters have voted in favour of the government’s energy strategy, which will see billions in subsidies for renewable energy and a gradual phasing out of nuclear energy.

Final results show that 58.2 per cent of Swiss voters came out in favour of the Energy Strategy 2050 on Sunday’s referendum.

The country’s energy minister and current president Doris Leuthard celebrated the results. At a news conference she said: “After six years of debate in parliament and at a committee level, a new chapter in Switzerland’s energy policy can begin.”

She went on to say that that the law would boost domestic renewable energy, cut the use of fossil fuel and reduce reliance on foreign imports.

“The law leads our country into a modern energy future.”

Sunday’s vote took place under Switzerland’s system of direct democracy. The Energy Strategy 2050 had already been approved by the Swiss parliament in 2016, but the right-wing Swiss People’s Party had challenged it to a nationwide vote. Turnout was 42.4 per cent.

The Social Democrats called Sunday’s decision “good for the climate, the environment, our jobs, the Swiss economy and the whole population”.

Under the energy strategy, CHF 480 million will go each year to fund investments in wind, solar and hydro energy sources. An additional CHF 450 million will be set aside from an existing fossil fuel tax to reduce building energy use by 43 per cent by 2035, reported Reuters.

Solar and wind energy currently account for less than 5 per cent of Switzerland’s energy mix. Hydropower makes up an overwhelming 60 per cent, with nuclear energy at 35 per cent.

The new law also bans Switzerland from building new nuclear plants. Nuclear power will be phased out gradually beginning in 2019 when the first of the country’s five nuclear reactors are shut down.

 

Image credit: Steffen Klatt

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