Swiss forests (here, Bern) are an economic and environmental priority, but poor wood-burning stoves could counteract forestry efforts
BERN, SWITZERLAND – More than 15 percent of fine particles, those minuscule bits of dust that are harmful to health, come from wood-burning stoves, the Swiss federal government now says, twice the amount shown by earlier research.
Reducing the quantity is a public health priority, with the popularity of home fireplaces growing, but an changes to regulations need to be aligned with an economic and environmental priority, to better develop and exploit Swiss forests.
The amount of wood burned for fuel is on the rise in Switzerland, according to Swiss energy officials, and it is likely to continue to go up if fossil fuel prices rise.
Switzerland is closely watching the example of Germany, which recently tightened its laws for wood as an energy source. It lowered the acceptable limits for home fireplaces, including existing ones.
Pilot projects have been started in some Swiss cantons in an effort to find better tools for measuring home fire emissions.
Burn dry wood in a correctly installed and properly functioning fireplace, for your health
A group meeting in Bern this week concluded that there is a huge difference, in terms of health and air pollution, between good home fireplaces and those that don’t meet today’s standards. Quality is directly linked to proper installation, the group says, as well as correct use and burning the right materials.
The question is of growing importance because the number of automatic wood-burning stoves has tripled and the number of manual home wood-burning stoves (poeles) has doubled in the past 15 years according to the Swiss Energy Office.
Swiss authorities, researchers, firms and cantonal officials, many of them with Cercl’Air, met 8-9 November to discuss the effectiveness of air filters on home fireplaces and to review Swiss regulations governing small wood-burning units.
Switzerland’s law requiring certification for home fireplaces went into effect in 2007, but the implementation has been phased in, through 2012.
Cercl’Air is a group that brings together corporate and governmental Swiss air quality managers.
Today’s filters function mainly with electrostatic separation, but this works only if the fireplace is correctly installed and functioning properly. Studies are showing that a large number of wood-burning systems of medium- and large-size are not correctly installed, and these will be targeted to reduce fine particles in the short term.
More problematic are smaller units, under 70 kW, whose emissions are currently measured visually in most cantons to ensure, for example, that only dry wood and not household waste is being burned. But this approach is inadequate with older fireplaces that are not up to current standards.
Meanwhile, the Energy Office provides tips for anyone using wood for fuel, including avoiding creating too much soot through:
- proper ventilation in the fireplace
- using only dry wood
- lighting the fire properly
- avoiding using too much wood.
Federal Energy Office brochure on using wood-burning fires correctly (Fr, PDF)
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss consumers are gloomy about the economy, with confidence falling over jobs and the economy in general, to -24 from July’s -17. The figures show lower consumer sentiment than in the EU, where surveys registered -20.2 in October, although the cutoff date for surveys, which are done monthly, is slightly earlier than Switzerland’s.
Somewhat surprisingly, the federal government’s quarterly consumer sentiment survey shows that, despite falling confidence overall, Swiss consumers remain positive about their own financial situations and about their future savings, with no change from their sentiments in July’s survey.
Real estate and recovery in share prices account for improvement
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Per capita net worth for Swiss households rose to about CHF333,000 in 2009, up from CHF316,000.
Home values rose in Switzerland in 2010
Housing prices and a recovery in share prices have brought Swiss household income back up to the level of 2007, before the 2008 global economic crisis, figures published Friday 19 November by the Swiss National Bank show. Financial assets held by households grew 8.7 percent in 2009, up CHF151 billion to CHF1,883 billion.
“Movements in financial assets were strongly influenced by rising stock market prices: roughly one-third of the price losses suffered in 2008 was recouped in 2009 on stock markets in Switzerland and abroad,” the central bank notes in a statement. The stock market improvement resulted in the value of household shares rising by CHF43 billion to CHF212b. The value of collective investment schemes climbed by CHF19b to CHF181b.
Pension funds see contributions outweigh benefits drawn
Pension funds, too, saw an improvement: contributions to occupational pension schemes exceeded the benefits drawn and price gains were recorded on pension fund investments, says the SNB.
More home buyers and rising apartment prices account for higher real estate value
Swiss households' real estate assets, now more transparent
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The net worth of Swiss households fell in 2008 from an average of CHF334,000 per capita to CHF312,000. About CHF200,000 of this is real estate and claims against insurance and pension plans. The drop in assets, the first since 2002, was due to sharp falls in stock market values. It would have been worse but for higher real estate values, which provided something of a safety net. Real estate assets, CHF1,315 billion in total, accounted for 43 percent of all household assets at the end of 2008, up from 39 percent the previous year.
Real estate prices climbed in 2008
The total value of households’ real estate rose by CHF73 billion in 2008.
The figures were released by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) Friday 20 November, as part of the national financial accounts. This is the first year that assets include households’ real estate. The report notes that:
“financial assets held by households declined by CHF199 billion (10.4%) to CHF1,718 billion, while assets held in real estate increased by CHF73 billion (5.9%) to CHF1,315 billion. Liabilities rose by CHF15 billion (2.4%) to CHF629 billion. As a result of these developments, households’ net worth fell by CHF 141 billion (5.5%) to CHF2,403 billion.”
