Energy consumption continues to rise
Switzerland's final energy consumption increased by 1.9% to 854`300 terajoules (TJ) in 2016 compared to the previous year. The SFOE cites cooler weather, economic growth and population growth as the reasons.
According to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), the increase in final energy consumption by 1.9% compared to the previous year is primarily due to the somewhat cooler weather in 2016. The number of heating degree days, an important indicator of energy consumption for heating purposes, increased by 6.7% compared to the previous year. Long-term drivers such as permanent resident population (+1.1%), gross domestic product (+1.3%), motor vehicle population (+1.6%), and housing stock (growth, but detailed figures are not yet available) also contributed to the higher energy consumption. While growth in long-term drivers increases energy consumption, efficiency improvements and substitution effects tend to have a dampening effect on energy consumption growth. The annual ex-post analyses of energy consumption will be able to provide further information on the determinants of energy consumption development (publication in October 2017).
Increase in consumption of energy sources for heating purposes
The consumption of extra-light heating oil increased by 2.4%, that of natural gas by 3.8%. Electricity consumption remained unchanged and was at the previous year's level (see SFOE media release dated April 21, 2017). These three energy sources account for more than half of final energy consumption (2016: 53.8%).
The energy use of industrial waste increased by 5.9% (share in final energy consumption in 2016: 1.3%). The consumption of coal (-8.1%) and heavy fuel oils (-52.0%) has decreased, while that of petroleum coke (+122.5%) has increased. The share of these three energy sources in the total final energy consumption is small (<1%).
Fuel consumption up slightly
Total fuel consumption increased slightly year-on-year for the first time in three years (+0.4%). The trend toward substituting gasoline with diesel fuel continued unabated: sales of diesel oil increased by 1.1%, while gasoline consumption decreased by 3.1%. Sales of aviation fuels increased by 4.7%. Fossil fuels account for a good third (34.2%) of total final energy consumption.
Increase in consumption also for renewables
The cooler weather also affected the consumption of renewable energy sources for heating purposes. The consumption of energy wood increased by 7.6%. The use of ambient heat with heat pumps was also 10.6% higher than the previous year, as was the consumption of district heating (+6.2%) and solar heating (+3.8%). The share of these energy sources in the total final energy consumption in 2016 was 9.1% (energy wood: 4.6%, ambient heat: 1.9%, district heat: 2.3%, solar heat: 0.3%).
The direct use of biogas remained constant. Taking into account the biogas fed into the natural gas network (which is statistically accounted for under gas), there is an increase in biogas consumption by 5.8%. In the total gas consumption, biogas injected in 2016 accounted for 0.9%.
The consumption of biogenic fuels again increased significantly compared to the previous year (+72.0%) and has thus increased sevenfold overall within the last three years. The share of biogenic fuels in the total sales of gasoline and diesel was 1.6% in 2016 (2015: 0.9%). In addition to the exemption of biogenic fuels from mineral oil tax, their crediting as a CO2 compensation measure also has the effect of increasing consumption.
The Swiss Total Energy Statistics 2016 will be available from the second half of July on the website of the SFOE available and will be available in print at the beginning of August 2017.
