Energieertrag vor Landschaftsbild? : sozioökonomische und technische Aspekte der Windenergie am Beispiel der Region Goms

Den Möglichkeiten der Windenergie sind in der Schweiz meteorologische, technische und sozioökonomische Grenzen gesetzt. Eine Analyse von Windkraftprojekten in der Energieregion Goms zeigt Chancen und Risiken, führt zu neuen Forschungsfragen und resultiert in einer Checkliste für die Vorabklärung von Windkraftprojekten. Der interdisziplinäre Ansatz zeigt Win-win-Situationen auf, welche eine sozialverträgliche Steigerung der erneuer­baren Energieproduktion ermöglichen

What Determines Financial Development? Culture, Institutions or Trade

This paper endeavours to determine in how far theories emphasising cultural values, dysfunctional institutions or impediments to trade can explain the vast differences in the size of financial systems across the globe. To account for endogeneity, an instrumental variables approach is pursued. For a cross-section of countries, we find that trade openness and institutions constraining the political elite from expropriating financiers tend to promote financial development. Conversely, there is only limited evidence that cultural beliefs and the cost of enforcing financial contracts significantly hamper financial developmen

Auswirkungen des letzten Nutzungstermins von Weiden im Herbst auf den Ertrag im darauf folgenden Frühling

The consequences of a late closing date in autumn on pasture performance in spring are mostly unknown under Mid-European climatic conditions. An experiment on two sites in the Swiss lowlands showed that a delay of the closing date from early October to late November reduced spring yield by 50% (238-821 kg DM/ha) in early April and 18% (556-986 kg DM/ha) in Mai. This reduction of spring yield was particularly high (up to 75%) if the residual herbage mass before winter was below 300-500 kg DM/ha. On the other hand residual herbage mass above this threshold did not increase spring yield considerably. Thus, the utilisation of pasture in late autumn is recommended, if conditions are favourable and if grazing does not reduce the residual herbage mass below 300-500 kg DM/ha, corresponding to a herbage height of 5-6 cm (plate pasture meter)

Energy efficiency programmes in the spotlight - analysis of governmental, institutional and entrepreneurial energy efficiency programmes : target groups, governance mechanisms and factors of success

To be sustainable, life styles will have to adapt to low energy use (European Commission 2009), an effort which needs to be supported by energy efficiency programmes as well. Energy efficiency means providing the same benefit (output) with less energy input. This can be achieved by adoption of existing, more efficient technologies and energy system solutions or by an optimized matching of energy supply and demand. To foster application of these technologies and behaviours in households, administrations and companies, it requires incentives such as taxes, grants or on-site advice by experts. The initiators of such energy efficiency programmes are diverse: national or regional administrations or institutions, but also energy service companies (ESCO) or financial service companies. How do these programmes work, who is addressed by whom and what are innovative models of such programs? Our desk research about energy efficiency programs in selected OECD-countries analyses target groups, governance mechanisms, factors of success and shows innovative programmes of the different initiators mentioned above. Working together with other institutions for the setup and operation of an energy efficiency programme is important. According to our findings, this could be done better, especially from the national initiator’s side. Architects and construction companies are rarely appealed by any of the initiators and facility owners and maintenance staff only by ESCOs. In general ESCOs very often have programmes, which are a combination of governance mechanisms, which would probably be effective in programmes of national and regional institutions as well

Switzerland

The long-term energy policy of the Canton of Zurich aims on maintaining respectively enabling a high, but eco-friendly living standard. Until 2050 the CO2 emissions are to be reduced from today approximately 6.0 tonnes per year and person down to 2.2 tonnes. By 2034, all remaining nuclear power plants in Switzerland, some of them among the oldest in Europe, will be taken of the grid (in accordance with the new political decision taken by the Swiss Federal Council in the wake of the Fukushima desaster). The overall target is therefore the transformation of the energy supply from a nuclear and hydropower based to a more sustainable one. Security of supply is often identified as one of the principle challenges in this context. For all these aspects, support and promotion of Innovation beyond R&D is a key relevance as well. The smart city concept is not only multi-dimensional but also future-oriented in tackling energy consumption and CO2 emissions. It follows an urban development strategy whereby focussing on how (Internet-related) technologies enhance the lives of citizens, empowering them for contributing to urban change and realizing their ambitions

Technologien auf dem Prüfstand : neu entwickeltes Indikatorenset zur Bewertung der Stromproduktion anhand der Ziele der Energiestrategie 2050

Wie sind die verschiedenen Stromproduktionstechnologien im Hinblick auf die Energiewende zu bewerten? Welchen Beitrag können sie leisten? Ausgehend von diesen Fragen hat ein Forschungsteam der ZHAW ein Set von Bewertungs-Indikatoren entwickelt. Dieses stützt sich auf die in der Energiestrategie 2050 definierten Leitlinien Sicherheit, Wirtschaftlichkeit und Umweltverträglichkeit. Im Sinne einer ganzheitlichen Betrachtung wurde zudem der Aspekt der Gesellschaftsverträglichkeit hinzugefügt

Smart City : Leitfaden zur Umsetzung von Smart-City-Initiativen in der Schweiz

Dieser Leitfaden zur Umsetzung von Smart-City-Initiativen in der Schweiz wurde im Rahmen des Programmes EnergieSchweiz für Gemeinden konzipiert. Das Bundesamt für Energie (BFE) fördert damit die Umsetzung der nationalen Energiepolitik in den Bereichen Energieeffizienz und erneuerbare Energie. Mit dem Programm EnergieSchweiz für Gemeinden unterstützt das BFE gezielt Projekte auf kommunaler Ebene

Social life cycle assessment : specific approach and case study for Switzerland

This article proposes a specific social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) approach, to be applied in a case study on energy production in Switzerland. The aim of the present study is to describe the social conditions along the global supply chains and to compare them with the social situation in Switzerland. Therefore, a specific S-LCA methodology was developed that combines a relevance analysis with a performance reference point (PRP) assessment. The relevance analysis is carried out to identify the most relevant unit processes and S-LCA indicators and the Swiss PRPs (SPRPs) are designed to compare the social issues along the value chain to the situation in Switzerland. The methodology was applied to two life cycle stages of the copper supply chain (resource extraction and wire production), relevant for the production of renewable energy technologies, where it was found that the most critical step is mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) due to the artisanal way of mining. The proposed methodology offers a comprehensive overview for the analysis of supply chains and the comparison of different life cycle phases. Nevertheless, the methodology can result in a very coarse resolution with low validity. However, if the data and the results are treated transparently, they provide meaningful information about the social conditions along the supply chain