Guest Editorial by Brigitte Weiss, Austrian Federal Ministry for
Transport, Innovation and Technology
Bioenergy
has always played an important part in the Austrian energy system. At present the bioenergy share is 12% of
primary energy consumption. The most
significant contribution - 60% of the biomass used in Austria – comes from
domestic heating. Individual households
are heated with pellet and woodchip boilers or stoves. The use of biomass for district heating is
another successful development.
More
than 350 plants consisting of a central biomass boiler and a distribution grid
have been built. There have been
substantial improvements in plant technology, such as efficiency increases from
an average of 50% in 1980 to 90% now, and CO emissions decreased to values
below 100 mg/Nm3.
New
technologies have been developed for medium scale combined heat and power
production (CHP). Demonstration plants
have been built in Güssing (gasification of biomass with steam in a novel
fluidised bed system), Reutte (steam cycle CHP), and Admont (organic rankine
cycle).
Technologies
for the heating market have the highest potential for substantial growth. A 4% obligation for electricity from new renewable
energy sources means that increasing attention will be paid to CHP
technologies.
The
second largest contribution comes from industry. Black liquor and bark, the residues of pulp and paper production,
are used to produce process heat and electricity. Similar strategies are used in wood processing industries, where
bark, sawmill residues and woodchips produce process energy for the drying of
wood, etc. By these means, industries
utilise their waste and save on energy costs - a highly competitive
contribution to a non-polluting energy system.
Biodiesel
and biogas also count among Austria’s technological core. Several facilities (ranging from small to
large scale) produce biodiesel from unrefined rapeseed oil or used vegetable
oils. Successful R&D has been
undertaken to develop a standard for vegetable oil fuel, to conduct fleet tests
and thus to establish biodiesel as a full substitute for diesel.
Biogas
is important mainly for agriculture. A
‘controlled self build system’ has successfully been established. Characteristics of this system are
standardised designs, the involvement of the farmer in the construction phase
and his ability to maintain the plant by himself.
What
are the driving forces for these successful developments in Austria? Most important is strong political
commitment and active participation of industry, innovators, funding
institutions and politicians. Well-aimed and long term priority setting in
R&D and in funding help to bundle limited resources.
The role of local innovators, who start initiatives in local niches as a basis for further development and dissemination, is essential. Qualification of professionals and standardisation of products are other important factors in the establishment of a competitive bioenergy market.