Natural gas and heating oil consumption remains lower than in previous years

ETH Zurich has implemented more than 600 individual energy-saving measures since October 2022. As was already the case in November, the consumption of fossil energy (natural gas, heating oil) at ETH was down on previous years in December 2022. Particularly in comparison to 2020 and 2021, ETH Zurich altogether consumed fewer fossil fuels (see chart). This reduction also cannot solely be attributed in December 2022 to the savings measures adopted, as the outside temperatures also impacted heating requirements.

Although the MeteoSwiss blog shows that December 2022 started cold and remained so until after the middle of the month, with snow falling at lower altitudes on several occasions, the winter chill did not last until the end of the month. Instead there was a sharp temperature rise in the second half of the month, with peaks of up to 16 degrees Celsius that more than offset the long cold period. Altogether it was a very mild December.

More heating oil consumed instead of natural gas

One noticeable feature of the consumption figures for December is the fact that the consumption of heating oil (illustrated in the chart in orange) exceeded that of natural gas (blue bars in the chart). This is in line with the guidelines of the federal government and ETH Zurich Executive Board for natural gas to be replaced with heating oil at dual fuel installations such as those on the Hönggerberg campus and in Schwerzenbach this winter in order to forestall a potential shortage in the Swiss gas supply. “We are working on the energy shortage task force and alongside researchers beyond the current consumption data to prepare ETH and its teaching and research infrastructure for possible future supply bottlenecks and crisis situations,” says Dominik Brem, Head of the Engineering and Systems department.