Heating oil was used in 41% of buildings in Switzerland and thus remains the main energy source for heating according to housing statisticsExternal link published on Thursday. However, this proportion has steadily declined over the past 40 years.
Some 18% of buildings had gas heating, twice as many as 30 years ago. This, however, varies dramatically by type of building and location. The share of gas heating in single-family houses was 16%, whereas it was 28% of apartments with ten or more units. In urban communities, 30% of buildings were heated with gas, compared to only 4% in rural communities.
The proportion of buildings with a heat pump (17%) has quadrupled since 2000. It is more common for single-family houses than in large apartment buildings. Heat pumps, which extract heat from the air, water or ground, are seen as central reducing dependence on fossil fuels and reducing CO2 emissions.
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Can heat pumps solve the climate crisis? Can they also cripple the Russian economy?
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Heat pumps are seen as central to reducing CO2 emissions. They could also reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas.
Some 12% of buildings in Switzerland were heated with wood and 8% with electricity.
In 2021, two thirds (67%) of residential buildings in Switzerland belonged to private individuals. Legal entities, including real estate companies, owned around every tenth building (12%).
Train line between Brig and Domodossola interrupted
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One day after a derailment approximately 15 kilometres from the Swiss border, BLS is running buses for passengers between Preglia and Domodossola, in Italy.
Swiss football boss wants crackdown on individual hooligans
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The head of the Swiss Football League says he prefers a harsher approach to individual hooligans rather than collective punishment measures affecting all fans.
Amherd: Council of Europe is ‘as urgently needed as ever’
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The Swiss government emphasised on Sunday the vital role of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, 75 years after it was founded.
Swiss minister: Italy will back Switzerland in EU talks
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Bern can count on the backing of Italy as it re-enters talks with the European Union on future relations, Viola Amherd says.
Student protestors at University of Lausanne continue pro-Palestine sit-in
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Since Thursday, a hall on campus has been occupied by students calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and a ceasefire in Gaza.
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Swiss public broadcasters RTS and SRF are drastically reducing their communications via the social network X (formerly Twitter).
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