The exterior of a new European Center for Renewable Energy plant that produces gas from wood in Guessing, southeastern Austria, paving the way toward new possibilities in renewable energy.

After 20 years investing in renewable energy, the small Austrian town of Guessing, a model of energy self-sufficiency, is spreading its pioneering technology far and wide.

The latest project, opened last week, is a one-megawatt plant capable of producing gas from wood chips.

According to its backers, this gas can be used in normal gas networks, urban heating systems, and cars or power stations that work on gas.

The technology, developed jointly with Switzerland, has already attracted attention from major energy companies.

“Vattenfall (from Sweden), EDF (France) and E.ON (Germany) are all interested in the plant,” Guessing’s mayor Peter Vadasz noted proudly.

A similar plant to the one in Guessing – which can heat 150 homes on a cold winter’s day – but 25 times more powerful is already in the works in Goeteborg, Sweden.

About 20 years ago, Guessing was still a sleepy town in the eastern Austrian province of Burgenland, but its foray into renewable energy soon turned it into a pioneer.

Located in a region of crop fields and forests, Guessing used its assets – biomass and sunshine – to pull itself out of its economic stagnation. Since 1996, this project has been coordinated by the European Center for Renewable Energy (EEE) and co-financed by the European Union.

After discarding wind power for lack of breezes, researchers developed a number of techniques to produce heat, electricity and agrofuel using maize, rapeseed, agricultural waste, wood or sunshine.

Guessing now covers all its heating and electricity needs thanks to a network of small units with a total capacity of six megawatts. And since 2005, the small town has been producing more energy than it can use.

“We produce 120 million kilowatt-hours of heating every year, and 45 million kilowatt-hours of electricity,” said EEE director Reinhard Koch.

Sales of electricity also brought in 6.7 million euros (US$9.4 million) last year.

“A total 1,100 jobs have been created in the last 12 years,” added Vadasz, who has won every reelection since 1992.

“Since the price of heating is determined by the town, we’ve been able to incite companies financially to settle down here. We have reinvested to renew the town,” he said.

Source: AFP