Basel-Stadt promotes electric cars with new tax regulations
In the future, residents of Basel who buy electric cars will pay less tax after the Grand Council revised the car tax system on Wednesday.
The amount of tax due will be measured according to a car’s CO2-emissions as well as its weight. The change will result in no loss of tax income for the canton.
Since 2013, cars in Basel-Stadt have been taxed through a bonus/malus system with a corresponding emission code according to its cubic size and exhaust technology. The Grand Council passed this regulation in 2011 on the basis of an initiative by the Social Democratic Party (SP) in order to move towards an ecological system of taxing cars.
In the meantime, hybrid and electric cars have become more widely used and are taxed in higher categories due to the calculation of their cubic size and the definition of the Euro exhaust label. This was not satisfactory, according to a new motion by the SP.
Likewise, the Commission for Economy and Taxes (WAK) leans towards the desirable promotion of electric cars being run by ‘green’ power which are quieter and more suitable for driving in cities. Vans and motorbikes are exempt from this.
Moderation of the SP-motion
The government had proposed a 50:50 balance for the calculation of tax but the WAK preferred a balance of 60:40 in favour of the CO2-emission. This was not disputed by the parliament. Although batteries are heavy, electric cars will become cheaper in future because these cars do not produce any CO2-emissions.
The revision was praised all around the debate; the new regulation was more ecological and easier than the previous system. It was disputed, however, on which exact date the cost neutrality should be based on; an initiative by the SP for a slightly higher basis was approved of with 47:44 votes.
Additionally, the SP applied for an additional discount for cars run only on electricity: They should only pay half the tax as long as their share of all the cars in the canton was under five per cent. This reduction should last for a maximum of ten years. Electric cars should be affordable for everyone, according to the party.
Innovation price for an invention for aerospace technology by FHNW
Researchers at the University for Applied Science (FHNW) in Muttenz have been praised for developing special thread inserts for satellites which can be put in and glued together automatically.
The team have been awarded the YPSOMED innovation price 2016 which comes with a financial recognition of 30,000 Swiss francs.
The invention is a prime example of target-oriented, innovative, and future-oriented cooperation between research and economy, Peter Mürner, board member of the YPSOMED innovation foundation, said in a FHNW statement issued on Wednesday.
With these inserts, instruments, aggregates, and sensors are put onto the carrier structure of a satellite, the statement read. An average communications satellite contains between 5000 and 10,000 inserts which until now had to be built in manually.
This has been changed by the product „GreDom“ which has been developed at FHNW. On this basis and thanks to insights from the project, industrial partner RUAG Space has developed a machine which automatically cuts satellite panels, drills holes, puts on glue, and places the inserts.
Also, thanks to this innovation, RUAG Space has received an order to build the OneWeb-Satellitestructure, Urs Breitmeier, CEO of RUAG, said in the release. The goal of this large-scale project is to provide comprehensive broadband Internet connection by the end of 2020. For this, a total of 900 satellites are needed – the biggest serial production of satellites ever.
Success for Basel Zoo: Orys is the 35th rhino baby
There is great excitement at Basel Zoo, where the public can be pleased to learn about another breeding success. On Saturday night, shortly before midnight, tiny Orys entered the world. The smooth delivery lasted only 13 minutes. He is the fourth rhino calf to be born to 14-year-old mother Quetta.
“Normally the rhinos lie down to give birth, although Quetta preferred to stand up,“ chief animal carer Roland Schweizer said after the birth. The baby rhino came into the world in the amniotic sac, which burst during the fall. But Orys was not hurt. Once on the floor, the baby Rhino started to breathe. At 492 days, the gestation period was a long one. Two days before the birth, Quetta was unsettled and paced up and down. Only the night before the birth did she rest in the corner of the shelter, where she alternated between lying down and standing up.
Orys was standing on his somewhat weak legs just an hour after being born and dared to try his first steps. After around four hours, he found his mother‘s teat and began to drink regularly. In the wild, rhinos weigh around 68 kilos at birth and gain around two kilos in weight per day. In comparison, Quetta weighs 1,940 kilos on the scales and it will be nearly four years before Orys will be the same size as his mother. „What is special about rhinos is that the mother walks behind their young, not vice versa,“ said Mr Schweizer.
As all baby animals who will be born in the zoo in 2017 are to have the letter ‚O‘ as the first letter of their names, the new rhino has been given the name Orys. He is named after the Indian state Orissa, which has been renamed Odisha since 2011. An Indian name has been given for the baby because his mother came from India.
Zoo curator Friederike von Houwald said that by the time he was born, Orys already had the typical tough ‘armour’ skin of a rhino. However, the skin is not as hard for the young animals as it is when they reach adulthood. The purpose of the tough skin is to protect the rhinos from being bitten. Rhinos also have very strong teeth in their upper jaws, used for example during mating.
Basel’s Zoo is rightly proud of its breeding programme. Not only that the zoo is the only one in Switzerland to keep rhinos. Since 1956, the zoo has successfully bred the animals and it is here that the European and international breeding book is kept. In Nepal and India there are around 3,400 to 3,500 rhinos left in the wild. In Europe, Orys is one of 71 in captivity. In around two years, Orys will move to another zoo.
Visitors can see Orys at the zoo from 8am to noon and 2pm to 5pm.