immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Gas

  • New pipeline cadastre portal creates transparency and added value in the construction industry

    New pipeline cadastre portal creates transparency and added value in the construction industry

    Zurich has introduced a new, advanced system for visualising infrastructure networks. The canton of Zurich’s pipeline register provides a complete visualisation of all above-ground and underground pipelines responsible for water, wastewater, electricity, district heating, gas and communications. Centralising this data in a single information system makes it much easier to access relevant information for planning, construction and maintenance work.

    Simplified access to information
    Previously, interested parties had to obtain information on pipelines individually from the respective owners or operators – a time-consuming process. With the new pipeline cadastre portal, the canton of Zurich now offers a central point of contact that enables users to access this important data quickly and easily. Over 500 works operating in the canton regularly update their data in this system, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the information.

    Wide range of applications
    The portal serves a wide range of users, including public administrations, construction companies, rescue and security services and private individuals. The precise information on the type and location of pipelines improves planning reliability for construction projects and facilitates the maintenance and expansion of existing infrastructure. Although the portal is not intended to be used for the direct planning of excavation work, it helps to significantly reduce the risk of damage by providing clear documentation of pipe routes.

    Simple operation and access to data
    The pipe cadastre portal is designed to be user-friendly. Users can search by municipality, parcel or street and select the medium of interest. The corresponding pipes are then displayed on the digital map. The data is easily accessible and available in standard formats. Additional information such as ownership and contact details of the relevant works are also provided.

    The portal can be accessed at: https://leitungskataster.zh.ch. Prior registration is required to use the portal.

  • 58 percent of Swiss buildings are heated with oil and gas

    58 percent of Swiss buildings are heated with oil and gas

    According to a press release , most heating systems in Swiss buildings were operated with oil or gas in 2021. This is the result of the building and housing statistics now published by the Federal Statistical Office ( BFS ) based in Neuchâtel. According to this, in 2021 there were 1.77 million residential buildings and 4.69 million apartments in Switzerland. 58 percent of the buildings were heated with fossil fuels – heating oil and gas are mentioned. Every fourth person heated with gas. 17 percent of the apartments were equipped with a heat pump. Their share of Swiss heating has quadrupled since 2000.

    Almost 40 percent of the population used heating oil in 2021. 25 percent heated with gas and 16 percent with a heat pump. The proportion of people who use heating oil was highest in the cantons of Ticino with 54 percent and Glarus (50 percent). Gas was used most frequently in the cantons of Geneva and Vaud, at 38 percent and 37 percent respectively.

    There are big differences in the share of gas between urban and rural areas. In urban communities, 30 percent of buildings were heated with gas, compared to just 4 percent in rural communities.

    More than 1 million of all buildings are single-family homes, of which more than half of the inhabited single-family homes were only occupied by one or two people, according to the BFS statement. An inhabited apartment in Switzerland was 102.4 square meters on average. Three and four room apartments make up 55 percent of all apartments in Switzerland.

  • Biomass plant produces electricity and gas

    Biomass plant produces electricity and gas

    A team of researchers from the Group of Energy Materials ( GEM ) in Sion, which is part of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne ( EPFL ), conducted a two-year study on the optimal configuration of biomass systems. As EPFL is now reporting , they have developed a method by means of which local biomass flows can be integrated into power grids and gas pipelines.

    Your system can be used to generate and store electricity and natural gas. It can be particularly useful in conjunction with other local but weather-dependent renewable energy systems such as solar panels and wind farms by closing any gaps in electricity production. Their models were calculated on the basis of a Danish and an Italian case study.

    “Our goal was to develop an effective approach to grid balancing that relies more on renewable energies,” explains study leader Maria Perez Fortes. “Electricity is consumed when the supply is high (to store it as gas) and generated when the supply is low.” This is why the team decided to use reversible solid oxide cells, “the only technology that seamlessly between Can switch electricity and gas generation ".

    The GEM scientists specialize in this technology, which can both store electricity as methane (Power2Gas) and convert the methane back into electricity – with high yields in both directions. As stated in the communication, their method could optimize electricity and gas distribution networks and their coupling, ensure a continuous power supply and enable utilities to manage their systems more efficiently.

  • EZL increases the proportion of biogas

    EZL increases the proportion of biogas

    Energie Zürichsee Linth introduced a proportion of biogas in its basic gas supply years ago, the utility company informed in a press release . Now EZL has increased this share to 20 percent biogas, it says there. For the customer, however, this is not associated with a price increase. He simply gets “an ecologically better product” with the same heat output.

    In the catchment area of EZL, customers could also “drive in a particularly environmentally friendly way,” explains the utility company in the press release. All filling stations here offer 100 percent biogas. At a current price of CHF 1.05 per liter, customers would benefit “twice”, writes EZL. On the one hand, the price is around 30 percent below that of gasoline. And on the other hand, they are CO2-free on the road with biogas.

    EZL operates its own plant for processing biogas at the Obersee wastewater treatment plant in Schmerikon SG. According to the company, the biogas produced there is enough for more than 500 vehicles with an annual mileage of around 15,000 kilometers a year.