Austria – An Environmental Role Model Top Performance in Environmental Engineering and Use of Renewable Energies Austria enjoys a reputation as being an environmental role model. This is not only due to the gifts bestowed upon the country by nature, such as the abundant supply of hydropower, but above all the early commitment to developing innovative environmental technologies and the resolute expansion of the infrastructure as the basis for generating renewable energy. Today Austrian companies are leading global providers in the fields of water management, wastewater treatment, contaminated site remediation and technologies for sustainable building. This development is the result of a strong networking of research with the business community within the context of regional clusters, forward-looking environmental legislation, exemplarily illustrated by the Green Electricity Act, and a variety of funding instruments, particularly the Climate and Energy Fund. Environmental Industry as an Economic Factor The environmental industry (refer to footnote 1 for a definition) is an important pillar of the Austrian economy, and has been characterized by steady growth over the past few decades. This sector accounts for close to five percent of all employees but generates almost twelve percent of total value creation. Environmentally-oriented Production and Services Revenue: EUR 35.8 billion 11.7 percent of GDP Employees: 174,000 people 4.8 percent of total employment (2012) Source: Statistics Austria (definition pursuant to EGGS-concept1) Renewable Energies as a Job Creator The production of renewable energies and the development of technologies to save heat and energy account for more than half of total value creation in the environmental industry and employ 40 percent of the people working in Austria’s environmental sector. Renewable energies make up a 32.2 percent share of gross final energy consumption, putting Austria in the top ranks in Europe. The share of renewable energies is only higher in Latvia and Sweden. This performance is mainly due to the use of hydropower and solid biomass2. 60 percent of domestic electricity production is covered by the approximately 150 large-scale or small hydropower plants, one of the best levels in international comparison. This reflects the extensive expertise of Austrian companies in the planning, construction and ongoing optimization of power plants. 1 2 According to Eurostat, the Environmental Goods and Services Sector (EGGS) involves activities designed to measure, avoid, reduce, limit or rectify environmental damage. This includes environmentally compatible or less environmentally harmful technologies, processes and products which reduce environmental risks and pollution to a minimum. Source: www.umwelttechnik.at, a Website of the Environmental Agency Austria The use of alternative energy sources, such as wind power, photovoltaics and geothermal energy, is promoted by the Green Electricity Act. The amendments passed in 2012 increased annual funding for alternative energies from EUR 21 million to EUR 50 million. Top Know-How in all Sectors Austrian companies have acquired outstanding know-how in other areas of the environmental sector which they are successfully marketing. _ Austrian companies generate annual revenues of EUR 2.9 billion in the field of wastewater management, from pipeline rehabilitation and the purification process to sludge treatment. _ The waste management sector can look back at over 30 years of experience. Austria began with waste separation and disposal at a very early stage. Companies in this sector generate revenues of EUR 5 billion. _ Many construction companies have gained an outstanding market position thanks to sustainable building concepts. Austrian industry is a leader for passive house technology. The Vienna University of Technology recently opened the world’s first office building supplying more energy than it consumes. Exports as a Growth Driver Exports are the growth driver of Austria’s environmental industry. Over two-thirds of revenue is generated on foreign markets. Every third environmental technology company has subsidiaries abroad. Thanks to ongoing market development, some twelve percent of Austrian environmental engineering firms have become market leaders in the EU (with a market share of more than 30 percent). Many are also global market leaders in their respective product segments. ■ The Bauer Group is the world market leader for irrigation, waste and energy management. Their systems increase harvest yields in many countries and self-sufficiency with agricultural products. ■ The WABAG Group is one of the leading companies for the planning, construction and operation of drinking water and wastewater facilities. It built Africa’s second largest wastewater treatment plant in Oran, Algeria. ■ Best-Water-Technologies BWT is Europe’s number one water technology company, and works on developing economical and ecological treatment systems for drinking, process, cooling and heating water. ■ A.S.A. Abfall Service AG, the largest waste disposal company in Austria and Eastern Europe, offers comprehensive holistic waste disposal strategies for municipalities, industry and private individuals. ■ Saubermacher AG serves 1,600 Austrian communities and 40,000 corporate customers in managing their waste disposal activities and is involved in a large number of foreign joint ventures. ■ Binder+Co is a specialist for processing and packing technology as well as environmental engineering, and has positioned itself as the global market leader in glass recycling on the basis of its CLARITY waste separation system. ■ GREENoneTEC is the leading global producer of flat collectors, and supplies the world’s largest solar thermal facility in Riad, Saudi Arabia. ■ EPS soltec, the specialist for photovoltaic solutions and innovative LED lighting concepts, is the world market leader for small-scale solar power plants. At the Cutting Edge with Research and Innovation The strong presence of Austrian environmental engineering companies results from an intensive commitment to research and development. The research intensity of providers of environmental technologies (research expenditures in relation to revenue) at 6.5 percent is double the average level for the production of physical goods3. This translates into a high innovation density. For example, Austria is the EU leader when it comes to environmental patents. Austrian researchers and entrepreneurs are at the cutting edge in the development of generic technologies. The basis for this success is the excellent basic research being carried out at universities and the well-networked application-oriented research conducted by nonuniversity institutions. Environmental Research at Universities Almost all of the 22 Austrian universities are involved in education and research on environmental protection and environmental engineering, resource conservation and renewable energies. ■ The University of National Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU) considers itself to be a “teaching and research center for renewable resources which are necessary for human life”. ■ Austria’s universities of technology are the academic flagships for environmental engineering, renewable energy and water management. ■ There is also a broad range of specialized offerings at other universities, from the Faculty Center of Ecology at the University of Vienna and the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change at the University of Graz to the Institute for Social Ecology at the University of Klagenfurt and the Institute for Ecological Economics of the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Research at Non-University Institutions ■ Non-university institutions such as the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Joanneum Research and the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) are important contributors to environmental and sustainability research in the natural sciences and economics. The Austrian Academy of Sciences also makes an important contribution. Support Through Broad-Based Research Funding and an Attractive Tax System Environmental and sustainability research and its commercial realization in the form of innovative technologies are decisive factors for the future and also the focal point of public funding. This includes initiatives such as the Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG, the Energy Research Program, the “City of the Future” and “Lighthouse Projects E-Mobility” programs, startup and technology funding offered by the funding bank AWS and project funding for basic research provided by the Austrian Science Fund FWF. The Climate and Energy Fund was established in 2007 to provide impetus to the development of climaterelevant and sustainable energy technologies. By 2013, it had already supported 70,000 projects in research and development, mobility, market penetration and awareness building to the amount of almost EUR 850 million4. An investment-friendly tax system also does its part, featuring a ten percent tax credit for investments in research and a unified corporate tax rate of 25 percent. 3 4 Source: www.umwelttechnik.at Source: Climate and Energy Fund, www.klimafonds.gv.at
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