Switzerland and Renewable Energy

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Yesterday while driving the radio was on. Usually I would turn it off because people usually speak about unimportant things. Yesterday was different. Yesterday someone was speaking about solar power and Switzerland. He said that at the moment just 6 percent of houses have solar panels, when it should be closer to 20-30 percent. He also said that instead of destroying pristine nature we should add solar panels to train stations and other buildings.

He went even further. He spoke about the need for architects to think about renewable energies by default, with the addition of solar panels on new buildings and more.

This podcast is so important that I listened to it as it was broadcast, but I also re-listened to it when I got home. There is a walk I have done three or more times in the Jura that goes along the Trans-Jurassienne train lines. Back in the day it generated part of its own energy by using hydroelectric power. You can still see the building where that power was generated.

At one point there was an interview from the 70s or so where the TPG were spoken of as adding solar panels on their buildings to generate their own power. "Why do you do this, do you save money?" "No, but we're investing in the future, for our children, so that they will have energy."

They also spoke of a solar powered community near Zurich, where a collaboration between property owners saw them find a way to generate solar power for their own community. This was 50 years ago. Even then people were living in the future, compared to today.

And Finally

Onr of the other points that was covered was the idea that there needs to be a discussion around how to sell and buy energy from a de-centralised energy system where someone on one floor can send energy to a neigbhour on another floor. The issue is that at the moment the grid is still centered around power stations. and with solar, hydro and wind power there could be a shift towards a de-centralised energy system.

It's actually something I said a few years ago. If every village creates and shares its own power then high tension powerl ines could become a thing of the past, as power would be within smaller nodes.