Swiss hospitals urged to think about energy savings

ZURICH, 21 Sep — PRIME. Swiss medical institutions could consider reducing electricity consumption, said Bastian Schwark, head of the energy department at the country’s Federal Office for National Economic Supply.

“Hospitals are exempt from electricity and gas quotas. But hospitals can also consider how they can reduce their electricity consumption,” Schwark told Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

He added that even in a critical industry such as pharmaceuticals, cost-saving measures could be implemented without significant cuts in production.

“Currently, almost every industry requires exceptions for itself. But this is not the right approach. Rather, each industry should think about what it can do in a critical situation. This could be, for example, reducing hours of work. If this will reduce electricity consumption by another 10-20 percent, we will postpone the introduction of quotas,” Shvark said.

Swiss authorities have previously said that for the first time they could impose restrictions on energy consumption in the event of a shortage of electricity or gas.

After the start of the special operation in Ukraine, the West stepped up sanctions pressure on Russia, which led to an increase in prices for electricity, fuel and food in Europe and the United States. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the policy of containment and weakening of Russia is a long-term strategy of the West, and the sanctions dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy. According to him, the main goal of the West is to worsen the lives of millions of people.