Other side of the socket: Swiss power woes.
| Auteur | Brunjes, Justin |
| Fonction | NEWS FEATURE |
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What do you do in a blackout? Hope you have a candle, a box of matches and a good book, as well as a place to sit and wait until the lights go back on. It's hard to believe the human race has only had electricity for a bit more than a century, yet is now all but utterly dependent on it. And, it's getting more difficult to produce.
Strom Fresser (noun): German for electronic devices that use a large quantity of energy.
The electricity consumption of Swiss society has risen 60 per cent in the last generation, while the population has only grown 20 per cent, according to statistics released by the Swiss Energy Authority (BFE). Statistics like this are prompting many to question how society can--sustainably--fill its mushrooming energy needs.
What made us such electricity gluttons? According to Matthias Buchs of the BFE, there are four causes.
First, economic growth: we can afford to produce, as well as buy, more fun gadgets. Second, population growth: but as already indicated, that's not as big of a factor as one might assume. Third, the substitution of fossil fuel energy with electricity--for example, equipping homes with geothermal pumps instead of oil furnaces. And this is a trend likely to continue as more homes go green and more electric automobiles hit the market. Finally, more of these more-fun gadgets: two and three TVs per house, satellite TV boxes, DVD players, computers, PlayStations[R], coffee machines and so on-many of which are never fully turned off, but continue to consume massive amounts of energy in stand-by mode.
Dwindling supply
If projections are correct, Switzerland is heading for a big shortage--which could lead to brownouts and even blackouts-in about a decade unless a solution to meet the country's rising energy needs and diminishing energy supply is found, according to a report released by the Society of Swiss Electricity Concerns (Verband Schweizerischer Elektrizitdtsunternehmen [VSE]).
While most people are aware of the reasons behind spiking energy consumption, they may not be as familiar with those behind diminishing supply. According to the VSE, there are several.
First, four of Switzerland's atomic power plants, Leibstadt, Gosgen, Beznau I and Beznau II, are scheduled to be decommissioned sometime between 2020 and 2050 due to age, leaving a gap of roughly 15,000 gigawatt hours per year in the country's current energy supply. This is a significant amount considering Swiss households consumed a combined total of 17,742 gigawatts in 2007...
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