Factsheets zu Stromerzeugungstechnologien in der Schweiz: Technische Merkmale, Ressourcenpotentiale, Umwelt-, Gesundheits- und wirtschaftliche Auswirkungen

The factsheets describe 13 electricity supply alternatives that could contribute to the Swiss electricity mix in 2035: (1) three hydropower types, including large dams, large run-of-river, and small hydropower; (2) five new renewable technologies—solar cells (photovoltaics), wind, deep geothermal, woody biomass, and biogas; (3) nuclear power; (4) waste incineration and large natural gas power; (5) net electricity import from abroad (net on the annual basis); and (6) electricity savings and efficiency improvements to reduce the electricity demand.

Each technology, its current status, resource potential, and environmental, health, and economic impacts were described qualitatively and quantitatively. The impacts included climate change (CO_2equiv); local air pollution (PM_10equiv; SO_x and NO_x); water, landscape, and land use (m² of land use); flora and fauna; accidental impacts, resource use, and waste (kWh of nonrenewable energy used for 1 kWh of electricity); electricity costs (rappen (Rp.) per kWh); and electricity supply reliability. The impacts were assessed using data from literature, prioritizing the Swiss-specific data as much as possible and including qualitative explanations for non-experts. The factsheets are accompanied by a glossary and a supplementary overview table that applied a five-color indicator system to reflect the severity of impacts across technologies.

The factsheets were developed for an informed citizen panel study in July 2017 in Switzerland, described in the following publication:

Volken, S.; Xexakis, G.; Trutnevyte, E. Perspectives of Informed Citizen Panel on Low-Carbon Electricity Portfolios in Switzerland and Longer-Term Evaluation of Informational Materials. Environmental Science & Technology 2018 52 (20), 11478-11489, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b01265