Cold temperatures, favourable economic conditions and population growth combined to push energy consumption to record levels in 2010.
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swissinfo.ch and agencies
The Federal Energy Office reported Swiss energy consumption rose to 911,550 terajoules (tj) last year, smashing the previous record of 895,250tj reported in 2008.
The Energy Office said the use of green energy was “booming”, with increased use of wood heaters, up 7.7 per cent, district heating up 12.7 per cent, solar power up 13.5 per cent and biogas up 7.3 per cent.
Consumption of extra-light fuel oil rose 5.5 per cent, while natural gas consumption jumped 10.8 per cent.
Increased consumption of diesel and aviation fuels – up 3.9 and 5 per cent respectively – and a 3.6 per cent decrease in petrol consumption, confirmed a growing trend to replace petrol with diesel, the federal office said.
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