Solar pioneer is happy with yes at the ballot box – but he wants more: Piccard is now launching his climate plan

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Switzerland will be climate neutral by 2050: what the Federal Council committed to six years ago is now written down in black and white. With 59 percent yes votes, the population clearly accepted the climate protection law on Sunday.

The big question now is: how can the climate target really be achieved? Even the proponents are aware that Switzerland alone will not reach zero with the necessary speed with the measures provided for by law. Simply replacing electric, gas and oil heating with more climate-friendly alternatives is not enough. The Yes-committee takes politics in hand: “Parliament and Bundesrat must act now.”

Bertrand Piccard (65) has a clear vision of what needs to be done. The native of Vaud was the first person to fly around the world in a balloon and traveled around the world again in a solar plane from 2015 to 2016. Today, the adventurer is committed to climate protection with his Solar Impulse Foundation. He celebrates the yes as a “victory of reason”.

Together with experts and lawyers, the solar pioneer has drawn up a climate plan for Switzerland. It contains more than two dozen proposals for measures to protect the climate.

The most exciting at a glance:

Turn petrol into an electric car: Because buying a new car is expensive, Piccard proposes replacing the internal combustion engine in existing cars with an electric drive. The federal government should grant conversion premiums for this. The solar pioneer is convinced that this is not only cheaper, but also that the climate target can be achieved more quickly.

The batteries in electric cars can also be used to stabilize the electricity grid. There are charging stations that not only charge the car battery, but can also feed power back to the grid at peak times.

These are demands that have already been discussed in parliament. The Federal Council is investigating them.

The National Council and the Council of States want to stimulate geothermal energy. What politicians don’t really have on their radar yet: you don’t have to dig deep for it. Buildings can also be heated with underground parking garages and tunnels. Panels on the concrete walls can absorb heat in the winter and store it underground – and in the summer they help with cooling. The first such projects already exist in Switzerland. If it’s up to Piccard, there will be many more soon.

It is relatively easy to save a lot of energy when showering. The heat generated in the shower cubicle can be used to preheat the cold water that flows in afterwards. This can save up to 60 percent on the energy needed for hot water. Bertrand Piccard foresees that the federal government will require homeowners to use such heat recovery in the future.

There is a much greater saving potential in the construction and renovation of buildings. The federal government should give more weight to environmental criteria in public tenders for construction projects, environmentalists demand. The House of Representatives is currently debating tightening the procurement law accordingly.

There is also potential for savings in street lighting. The Piccard foundation advocates a complete switch to LED or other energy-saving lighting in 2028. She also proposes installing motion sensors. However, street lighting accounts for only 0.7 percent of total annual electricity consumption in Switzerland.

Solar systems can be installed not only on roofs of houses, but also on fields. The panels then serve as hail protection or for a better climate on the field. Such systems already exist. Piccard would like to subsidize them in the future to further promote this form of energy production.

However, he sees opportunities not only at the beginning of the human food chain, but also at the end. Piccard’s climate plan also provides for less use of disposable plastic tableware. Several single-use products are already banned in the EU. In Switzerland, a total ban should apply from 2030, the climate protector demands.

It is clear to Piccard that the law offers Switzerland the opportunity to modernize. The measures he proposed would show that solutions existed. From his point of view, they simply need to be implemented.

Source:Blick