New commitment credit for energy research clears first hurdle
Published: Tuesday, May 28th 2024, 12:20
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With the approval of the Council of States, the CHF 106.8 million commitment credit for research into energy and climate issues cleared a first hurdle on Tuesday. The small chamber adopted the federal decree by 37 votes to 3 with three abstentions.
With the new research funding instrument known as Sweeter (Swiss research for the energy transition and emissions reduction), the federal government intends to invest additional funds in energy research. The aim is to find quick and targeted answers to urgent questions about ensuring security of supply and converting the energy system to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The national government wants to expand an existing research funding instrument for Sweeter: To date, a total of CHF 136.4 million has been available for the Sweet (Swiss energy research for the energy transition) funding program for the period from 2021 to 2032. With the additional 106.8 million francs, Sweet would thus be expanded to Sweeter.
The funding from Sweeter will go to consortia of universities, companies, cities, cantons and municipalities and will be awarded for the years 2025 to 2036. These consortia will contribute their own funds. The funds are to be offset by loans for the promotion of education, research and innovation (ERI) until 2036.
The Council of States' Committee for the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy (Urek-S) endorsed the Federal Council's proposal. The expansion from Sweet to Sweeter would make it possible to tackle the challenge of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 across all authorities, said Energy Minister Albert Rösti.
Meanwhile, a minority from the conservative camp proposed halving the funds for Sweeter to CHF 53.4 million and limiting the credit to the period from 2025 to 2032. In the end, the small chamber voted extremely narrowly against the minority proposal by 21 votes to 20 with two abstentions.
The National Council will next vote on the Federal Council's proposal.
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