FROM BROKE & DOWN TO BOOMTOWN WITH NEW ENERGY

This town is SO SMART! They see that the New Energy resource they have depended on up til now for their New Energy Boom must be protected -- so they are bringing in solar to compensate and keep growing.

‘Dead-end’ Austrian town blossoms with green energy
Jonathan Tirone, August 28, 2007 (Bloomberg News via International Herald Tribune)

WHO
Maria Hofer, lifelong Gussing, Austria, resident; Eco-tourists, scientists, international diplomats and entrepreneurs; Bernard Snoy, economic director, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); Peter Vadasz, the 1992 mayor who led the city’s changeover; Rheinhard Koch, Director, European Center for Renewable Energy, & the electrical engineer who designed Gussing’s first power changeovers; Hermann Hofbauer, Viennese scientist, designer of wood-to-energy process that put Gussing into profit;

The Gussing biomass plant that scientistis and ecotourists come to see. The medieval cathedral that used to be the big tourist attraction is on the mountaintop in the background. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
Gussing is the 1st EU town to cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 90% and it is experiencing an economic boom from its commitment to New Energy.

WHEN
- Gussing’s transformation began 15 years ago (1992) when city hall, struggling to pay its electric bill, ordered the town’s move away from fossil fuels. Since then: 50 New Energy companies & 1,000+ jobs.
- 1996: New Energy electricity to the whole town.
- 1998: Wood-to-natural gas process installed, city becomes enriched
- 2008: completion of 50 million euro solar energy facility

WHERE
Gussing, Austria, is in the region of what used to be the border between the Communist and Free worlds. 130 kilometers (80 miles) southeast of Vienna.

A modern wood-to-energy furnace with emissions-containing fixtures.

WHY
- Gussing: Population, 4000. Nickname: "Eco-Energy Land." Formerly agricultural (corn, sunflowers, timber).
- New Energies developed in Gussing include: Solar, biomass and ethanol. Power generated: 22 megawatts/year. The 8 megawatts sold to national grid bring 4.7 million euros in revenue and 500,000 euros in profits spent on more New Energy infrastructure.
1st step: wood-burning power plant. 2nd step: plant for auto fuel from rapeseed.
- The Hofbauer wood-to-natural gas process draws on local forests but cuts emissions and makes the town energy independent. Many worry about the forests.
- Solon AG Fuer Solartechnik of Germany will finish a 50 million euro solar energy plant in 2008.

A comprehensive biomass-to-energy schematic. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Hofer: "This was a dead-end town and now we're the center of attention…It seems like every week we read about new jobs from renewable energy."
- Snoy: "The town is combining growth in tourism revenue with being in the vanguard of environmental sustainability…"
- Vadasz: "Just to turn to renewable energy brought advantages we didn't dream of before…A lot of money that left before, now stays in the region."
- Raphael Rindler, local Franciscan priest: "People here take the forests for granted, the way people thought about oil 50 years ago…"