Small country, big challenge: Switzerland's upcoming transition to sustainable energy

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Volumn 71, Issue 4, 2015, Pages 51-63

  Notter, Dominic A ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

Alternative energy; conservation; energy efficiency; energy independence; hydropower; nuclear energy; nuclear power plants; renewable energy; smart grid; Switzerland

Indexed keywords

EID: 84936993614     PISSN: 00963402     EISSN: 19383282     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0096340215590792     Document Type: Article

References (34)

1. 2,000-Watt Society (2015) 2000-Watt-Gesellschaft. (In German.) Available at: http://www.novatlantis.ch/forschung/2000-watt-gesellschaft.
2. 2,000-Watt Society Basel (2015) Basel auf dem Weg zur 2000-Watt-Gesellschaft. (In German.) Available at: http://www.2000-watt.bs.ch.
3. Beniston M, Stoffel M, Hill M, (2011) Impacts of climatic change on water and natural hazards in the Alps: Can current water governance cope with future challenges? Examples from the European “ACQWA†project. Environmental Science & Policy 14 (7): 734-743. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901110001851.
4. Bosley C and Bennett S (2014) Switzerland hands out iodine in case of nuclear disaster. Bloomberg Business, November 6. Available at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-05/switzerland-hands-out-iodine-in-case-of-nuclear-disaster.html.
5. Britt C (2013) Visit to the core of a Swiss nuclear plant. Swissinfo.ch/Swiss Press Council, November 22. Available at: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/visit-to-the-core-of-a-swiss-nuclear-plant/37355600.
6. Burger B (2014) Electricity production from solar and wind in Germany in 2014. Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, December 29. Available at: http://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/downloads-englisch/pdf-files-englisch/data-nivc-/electricity-production-from-solar-and-wind-in-germany-2014.pdf.
7. City of Zurich (2015) 2000-Watt Society. Available at: http://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/content/portal/en/index/portraet-der-stadt-zuerich/2000-watt-society.html.
8. Energy Information Administration (2014) How much electricity is lost in transmission and distribution in the United States? Available at: http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=105&t=3.
9. ETH Zurich (2013) Switzerland: No water shortage despite melting glaciers. April 29. Available at: http://www.ethrat.ch/en/node/3258.
10. Funk M (2014) Glacier retreat: Still sufficient water for hydroelectric power production? Swiss National Science Foundation. Available at: http://www.nfp61.ch/E/projects/cluster-hydrology/glacier-retreat/Pages/default.aspx.
11. Georgia Power (2014) Plant Scherer. Available at: http://www.georgiapower.com/docs/about-us/1402870%20PLANT%20SCHERER%20INFO%20SHEET0108.pdf.
12. Haeberli W (2014) Lakes as a consequence of melting glaciers: Opportunities and risks. Swiss National Science Foundation. Available at: http://www.nfp61.ch/E/projects/cluster-hydrology/lakes-melting-glaciers/Pages/default.aspx.
13. IAEA (2014) Nuclear share of electricity generation in 2014. Available at: http://www.iaea.org/PRIS/WorldStatistics/NuclearShareofElectricityGeneration.aspx.
14. Leuenberger M and Frischknecht R (2010) Life cycle assessment of Swiss electricity mixes. Uster, Switzerland: ESU Services. Available at: http://www.esu-services.ch/fileadmin/download/leuenberger-2010-ElectricityMixesSwitzerland2007.pdf.
15. Linsbauer A, Paul F, Machguth H, (2013) Comparing three different methods to model scenarios of future glacier change in the Swiss Alps. Annals of Glaciology 54 (63): 241-253. Available at: http://www.zora.uzh.ch/81541/1/2013-LinsbauerA-etal-2013-AnnGlac-Kopie-.pdf.
16. Müller D (1994) European integration and Swiss identities. Journal of the International Institute 2(1). Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.4750978.0002.101.
17. National Academy of Sciences (2008) What you need to know about energy. Available at: http://needtoknow.nas.edu/energy/energy-sources/.
18. Newsham J (2014) As electricity costs rise, market for heat pumps takes off. Boston Globe, October 6. Available at: http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/10/05/new-heat-pump-technology-can-warm-homes-even-cold-new-england-winters/JgABf7wNFqRcYI6YVN6nsI/story.html.
19. Notter DA (2015) Life cycle impact assessment modeling for particulate matter: A new approach based on physico-chemical particle properties. Environment International 82: 10-20. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2015.05.002.
20. Notter DA, Gauch M, Widmer R, (2010) Contribution of Li-ion batteries to the environmental impact of electric vehicles. Environmental Science & Technology 44 (17): 6550-6556. Available at: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es903729a.
21. Notter DA, Meyer R, Althaus H-J, (2013) The Western lifestyle and its long way to sustainability. Environmental Science & Technology 47 (9): 4014-4021. Available at: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es3037548.
22. Notter DA, Kouravelou K, Karachalios T, et al. (2015) Life cycle assessment of PEM FC applications: Electric mobility and μ-CHP. Energy and Environmental Science. Accepted manuscript. DOI: 10.1039/C5EE01082A.
23. RePower (2011) Efficiency potential in buildings. Available at: http://onlinereport.repower.com/12/ar/en/annual-report/highlighted-topics/efficiency-potential-in-buildings.htm.
24. SAFE (2015) Stromverbrauch 2035/2050. (In German). Available at: http://www.energieeffizienz.ch/dam/studien/2011-factsheet
25. Swiss Agency for Energy Efficiency (2015) Wärmepumpe: Worauf es ankommt. (In German). Available at: http://www.fws.ch/news/items/waermepumpe-worauf-es-ankommt.html.
26. Swiss Federal Council (2012) Erläuternder Bericht zur Energiestrategie 2050 (Vernehmlassungsvorlage). (In German). Available at: http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/gg/pc/documents/2210/Energiestrategie-2050-Erl-Bericht-de.pdf.
27. Swiss Federal Office of Energy (2011) Federal Council decides to gradually phase out nuclear energy as part of its new energy strategy. May 25. Available at: http://www.bfe.admin.ch/energie/00588/00589/00644/index.html?lang=en&msg-id= 39337.
28. Swiss Federal Statistical Office (2015) Energieträger. (In German). Available at: http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/08/02/blank/key/verbrauch/energietraeger.html.
29. Swiss Kite Power (2015) Our approach. Available at: http://www.swisskitepower.ch/about-3/kite-power/.
30. Swiss Statistics (2015) Decoupling-energy consumption. Available at: http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/themen/21/02/ind9.indicator.73016.906.html.
31. Swissinfo.ch (2003) Switzerland's first nuclear plant decommissioned. September 17. Available at: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland-s-first-nuclear-plant-decommissioned/3518582.
32. Union of Concerned Scientists (2015) Coal generates 44% of our electricity, and is the single biggest air polluter in the U.S. Available at: http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/coalvswind/c01.html.
33. World Nuclear Association (2015a) Nuclear power in Switzerland. Available at: http://world-nuclear.org/info/Country-Profiles/Countries-O-S/Switzerland/.
34. World Nuclear Association (2015b) Nuclear power in the USA. Available at: http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Country-Profiles/Countries-T-Z/USA - Nuclear-Power/.