An assessment of energy system transformation pathways to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions in Switzerland
Evangelos Panos, Ramachandran Kannan, Stefan Hirschberg, Tom Kober
Abstract
Abstract Switzerland has one of the lowest carbon intensities among industrialised countries. However, its transition to net-zero carbon dioxide emissions is complicated by limited domestic mitigation options, which tend to increase costs, raise energy security concerns, and trigger socio-economic barriers in policy implementation. Research on these issues is relevant to the societal and political debates on energy transition worldwide. Here we apply a well-established techno-economic energy systems model and highlight the challenges of the Swiss energy transition under different technical, socio-economic, and geopolitical contexts. We suggest feasible technical solutions based on low-carbon technologies, efficiency, and flexibility. We find that import independency and net-zero emissions by 2050 require an additional cumulative discounted investment, compared to a business-as-usual scenario, of 300 billion CHF 2019 in energy efficiency, negative emissions and renewable technologies. The average per capita costs of net-zero emissions are 320–1390 CHF 2019 /yr. from 2020 to 2050, depending on exploited domestic mitigation options, integration into international energy markets, and energy security ambition.