GENEVA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from Switzerland's four biggest power supply companies soared by more than a third in 2017, while more than two-thirds of their electricity came from fossil and nuclear sources, a new report shows.
The report by Swiss Energy Foundation (SES), a privately-funded group, looks at power supplied by the four largest utility companies in the Alpine country, namely Alpiq, Axpo, BKW and Repower, and the energy goals of the country.
In 2017, 41.3 percent of their electricity came from nuclear plants and 27.8 percent from coal or gas power plants, SES said on Friday.
The rest of the firms' electricity was from renewable sources, mostly hydro (26.5 percent).
Moritz Bandhauer, the SES project manager for "Electricity Mix 2017", said this is concerning as Switzerland has a ban on the construction of new nuclear plants and the end of nuclear power is only a matter of time.
Wind power represented 3.7 percent of the four companies' power production, while solar power represented an "almost negligible" 0.1 percent.
Other renewable sources like biomass (0.2 percent) and small hydro (0.5 percent) were also minimal, according to SES.
Bandhauer said what is happening counters the goal of a major energy shift.
"There is an urgent need for more investment in new renewable power plants," he said, calling for policy decisions to be made.
It is urgent to ensure that nuclear power is not replaced by relatively cheap electricity from fossil fuel sources, said Bandhauer.
All of the four firms' hydroelectric power plants are in Switzerland, but about half their nuclear power is produced in France and their gas power stations are in Italy.
