Implement environmentally friendly standard products on a systematic basis!

Long-term nature of the switch to standard products comprising renewable energies

Source:

Liebe 2018.Liebe, U 2018, Green Energy Defaults Have Massive and Persistent Effects in the Household and Business Sector, Zurich.¹ The changeover took place in year 2.

The vast majority of electricity purchasers take part in the switch to standard products generated from renewable energies and remain loyal.

During the past decade, ever more Swiss energy suppliers have decided to switch their standard product to an electricity mix comprising a greater share of renewable energies. Customers who are not in agreement with the standard product comprising renewable energies must therefore actively order a different product.Association for Environmentally Friendly Energy (VUE) 2018, A Survey of Swiss Utilities, conducted on behalf of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), Zurich. SCCER CREST 2018, Reduktion der Energienachfrage von Haushalten – erfolgversprechende Schritte auf einem langen Weg, White Paper 4 – January/2018, recommendation 3, p. 9, https://www.sccer-crest.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/White_Paper_SHEDS_final_mit_supported_by....pdf.² This principle can also be implemented in other areas. For example, canteens could put their vegetarian meals at the top of the menu or mobility apps could list an environmentally friendly option first.

Such green default products are rarely objected to among the population.Project “Soft incentives and energy consumption”.³ They serve to steer behaviour without being patronising or ruling out certain courses of action. An analysis of the data of more than 10,000 households and 1,000 companies with respect to power supply also shows that this measure effectively promotes the distribution of renewable energies. Some 80 % of households and 70 % of companies investigated also stuck with the more expensive standard electricity product comprising renewable energies five years after the changeover. Remarkable is the fact that companies also stayed loyal to the green standard product. It was expected that they would be more price-sensitive than private households.

Generally speaking, green standard products can be implemented in practically all areas relevant to the transformation of the energy system both on a large scale and at a low cost. Levels of success can also be boosted if green default products are linked with “Swissness” and green products from Switzerland are stipulated as standard.

Liebe, U 2018, Green Energy Defaults Have Massive and Persistent Effects in the Household and Business Sector, Zurich.
Association for Environmentally Friendly Energy (VUE) 2018, A Survey of Swiss Utilities, conducted on behalf of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), Zurich. SCCER CREST 2018, Reduktion der Energienachfrage von Haushalten – erfolgversprechende Schritte auf einem langen Weg, White Paper 4 – January/2018, recommendation 3, p. 9, https://www.sccer-crest.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/White_Paper_SHEDS_final_mit_supported_by....pdf.
Project “Soft incentives and energy consumption”.

All information provided on these pages corresponds to the status of knowledge as of 18.06.2019.

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Acceptance Recommendations Ten sources of impetus for the future

From the more than 100 NRP Energy projects, ten recommendations on the subject of acceptance can be derived in summary. An echo group of eight specialists (see “Publication details”) from the worlds of administration and practice have reflected on these recommendations at a workshop with a view to their impact and (political) feasibility (see “Multi-stage synthesis process”).

This gave rise to the matrix presented below. All of the recommendations were judged to be effective and feasible. It can be seen, however, that the potential effectiveness and feasibility of the following three key recommendations was judged especially positively.