The demand for green technologies continues unabated. Austria is doing pioneering work in many areas, as will be demonstrated by innovations at the world exhibition in Dubai. At the municipal summer talks in Bad Aussee on September 2nd and 3rd, experts demonstrated how green technologies can not only revolutionize the economy, but also advance the energy transition.
AUSTRIA. The Austrian Association of Municipalities and Kommunalkredit invited to a municipal think tank. In a breakout session, top-class experts discussed the topic of “green technologies as a key element of the energy future”.
“Without a consistent change in the energy system into a green and sustainable energy future, there will be a dramatic loss of quality of life and prosperity,” warned Wolfgang Anzengruber, who was Chairman of the Board of Verbund AG for eleven years and a member of the ÖBAG participation committee. The energy present is still predominantly characterized by fossil primary energy, which is mainly responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions, the causes of the dramatic global climate changes.
Challenges cannot be overcome through “renunciation narratives”
Anzengruber does not gloss over the figures: Austria’s share of renewable energy is currently only 35 percent, electrical energy with around 20 percent of the total energy requirement, but is already around 75 percent renewable (hydropower> 60%). These huge challenges cannot be mastered through “renunciation narratives”, but only “through consistent green technologies in all areas of society in general and the economy in particular”. The expert calls for energetic initiatives at all levels.
- Consumers (behavior change, regional food supply, energy management, building physics, efficiency incentives, etc.)
- Municipalities (energy communities, procurement procedures, decentralized energy generation, recycling, etc.)
- Industry (e.g. energy efficiencies, electrification, substitution of fossil fuels with hydrogen that is as green as possible, circular economy)
- Finance (e.g. in the field of green finance, taxonomy)
- Science (research and development, improved interlinking and cooperation with municipalities and business, etc.)
- Mobility (e.g. in public transport, electromobility, synthetic fuels, true cost of transport.)
- Politics (framework legislation, promotion of investments and approval procedures, CO² pricing, subsidies and tax incentives, etc.)
- Europe (consistent implementation of the “green deal”, CO² tariffs, etc.)
- Global (fair burden sharing, global and consistent implementation of international agreements “Paris” and “ESG”
Power grids as a “central role”
For Gerhard Christiner, board member Austrian Power Grid (APG), overall planning and implementation is necessary for an energy turnaround and the coming decade of electrification: “We can only achieve this with high-capacity infrastructures and the use of ‘state of the art’ technologies Being able to manage transformation ‘safely’. The power grids play a central role “, said Christiner, who also gave a keynote speech during the summer talks.
Two “breakthroughs” for a sustainable energy future
“For the successful implementation of a sustainable energy future, we need two ‘breakthroughs’, explained Florian Niedersüß, spokesman for the eww group in Wels, which provides sustainable solutions for private and business customers, from construction to building services.
During the discussion, Niedersüß explained what is meant by these “breakthroughs”: Only with a “regulatory breakthrough” can the green energy technologies available to us be expanded as quickly and as widely as possible. The energy transition needs a consistent prioritization in the balance with other interests (e.g. for the expansion of hydropower, power lines, waste heat utilization, photovoltaics). In addition, a “technological breakthrough” in the development of storage technologies, especially green hydrogen and battery storage, is necessary, said Niedersüß. These “breakthroughs” must be achieved at European and national level. At the regional and local level, there is a need for “powerful and rapid implementation of the available green energy technologies”.
Blackout protection package for communities
Josef Trummer, environmental manager and consultant from the company of the same name, Josef Trummer Management GmbH from Styria, which offers green technology at the municipal level in the field of disaster control, can make every municipality blackout and climate-ready with solar power. How exactly this works, he explained at the communal summer talks: Using “power islands”, Trummer Consulting uses power units for decentralized power generation and the use of blackout-resistant photovoltaic systems instead of fossil fuels to relieve the burden on the environment. The population, emergency services, mayor, crisis management team and companies are holistically involved.
In addition to the 57 municipalities, 16 companies, but also farms, hotels and private individuals have already made use of the blackout protection package with solar power. Trummer: “Every community can get blackout fit. The tasks in blackout protection are the same in all communities.”
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