Authorities set higher taxes on home fuel oil

Swiss authorities will raise taxes on heating oil in 2010 after admitting on Friday that emissions reduction targets for the previous year were not met.

Officials said that although they had hoped to reduce overall emissions to 86.5 per cent of 1990 levels, they remained at 88.8 per cent. Emissions of CO2 from petrol and diesel were 14 per cent higher in 2008 than in 1990.

The Federal Energy Office will triple the tax on home heating oil next year, raising it to SFr0.09 ($0.083 cents) per litre from SFr0.03 per litre.

Authorities also said on Friday that electricity consumption in Switzerland last year rose by 2.3 per cent to 58.7 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) – a new record.

Consumption increased 4.1 per cent over the first six months of 2008, the Energy Office said. In the second half of the year, it was only 0.4 per cent higher.

The Energy Office said that last year’s 1.6 per cent rise in gross domestic product and cold weather contributed to demand. The population also grew by 91,800 in 2008.

Hydropower plants made up 56 per cent of domestic energy production, nuclear power plants contributed 39 per cent, and conventional and other power plants contributed 4.9 per cent.

swissinfo.ch and agencies