Download Switzerland Report - The European Times

Canton of Berne
The canton’s policy is to upgrade
biomass energy installations so that
they will not only produce electricity
but also useable heat.
10 new agricultural biogas
installations by 2011
In 2006, the canton’s Executive
Council decided to offer support for
the creation of at least 10 new agricultural
biogas installations by 2011.
The canton will provide investment
support for agricultural enterprises
to set up biogas production facilities,
offer consultation services, streamline
the authorisation process,
and enhance co-ordination of
different offices involved in the new
programme. Agricultural enterprises
are encouraged to use animal wastes
and residues from harvests as sources
for biogas, with a focus on methane
production in the programme’s first
phase.
OAN’s Inforama service, assisted by
the Ökostrom Schweiz co-operative,
has developed a “biomass platform”
and is ready to help farmers set up
biomass installations. Agricultural
biomass installations benefit from
interest-free investment credits and
can have access to financial support
from the canton. Inforama also
provides training in other aspects of
agriculture and regularly organises
conferences on agriculture and the
rural economy. It has offices in Zollikofen,
Hondrich, Bärau, Koppigen,
Anet and Langenthal.
OAN calculates that only around
one third of the canton’s biomass
energy resources are currently being
utilised, and even less than this is
being employed for energy production.
In fact, a cantonal study shows
that the Canton of Berne’s biomass
energy production could be tripled
by 2035.
New strategy for OAN
In December 2009, Andreas Rickenbacher,
the Canton of Berne’s State
Councillor for Public Economy,
announced a new strategy for OAN
for the period up to 2014. He says
that the new strategy will focus
even more strongly on balancing
the need to exploit agricultural
resources while also protecting the
canton’s natural heritage and rural
environment. He explains, “It is
becoming more and more evident
that agriculture and nature share
a common future and that the
numerous possibilities they offer
are strongly linked, possibilities that
we will strive to make the best use of
in the years to come. ’’
The OAN’s new strategy focuses on
two key objectives: to develop a productive,
competitive and sustainable
agriculture sector, and to guarantee
the sustainable use of natural
resources and the promotion of
biodiversity in the Canton of Berne.
Andreas Rickenbacher adds, “We
must ensure that the Canton of
Berne’s agriculture sector overall
implements a coherent strategy
aimed at producing high quality
agricultural products so that the
canton’s agricultural enterprises
can remain competitive in the long
term. At the same time, the canton’s
natural resources must benefit from
a promotion of biodiversity and an
emphasis on sustainable use of our
land, water and air.”
19