1.) Introduction:

Every society deals with environmental problems in a different way. Air pollution, acidification and climate change originate within and outside of our region caused by emissions of traffic, local industry , power stations and households. In the following we are going to explain how to deal with problems as far as energy is concerned.

 2.) How is the energy produced in our region?

 A short description of our hometown Judenburg: About 11.000 people live in our hometown Judenburg . It is situated in the upper part of Styria. Styria is one of the nine provinces of Austria. The major industries and businesses in our town are: steelprocessing, metallurgy, trade and business.

 Electricity:The town Judenburg owns five hydro- electric power plants which could produce 17.9% of the electricity need, the rest is produced by private plants or by the Steweag (public power plant of Styria). Most of the energy is used to supply households (43,5%) trades (15,3) and the public transport (15,1%).

 Heating: In 1973 the first long- distance heating system was built in Judenburg and in Murdorf alone 750 flats have been connected with the system all in all 850 households are connected, which has caused a high decrease in the CO2 emission. Since 1997 the newly built "combined heat and power station" has been producing the energy for the long distance heating system, and only on days when a lot of energy is needed is the long range gas heating plant in use.

 3.) Alternatives - energy visions for the next 25 years!

 The CO2 emission will reach its critical stage between 2020 and 2040 and this is why there will be a change of temperature of about 1,5°C. If we don't do anything about it now this stage will be reached sooner: there will be a critical stage of the CO2 emission in the next decade.

• 3.1 Biomass
  • Styria as the pioneer- province of solar energy in Austria gains already 20% of all needed energy from biomass.
  • In Austria we have a big supply of wood and so we can use it for our heating. Wood is renewable and it is neutral of CO2. So we have unlimited energy potential. That is why in the future we will not have to use crude oil, crude gas and hard coal in such big amounts as today.
  • Pellets are produced in big amounts and you can also buy them in shops. Pellets are small sticks made from pressed wood waste, which can be obtained from the forestry and from the wood processing industry.
• 3.2 Solar energy
  • Hot water heating: In recent years the sensational rate of growth in Austria ( about 100% per annum) in the use of solar collectors for domestic hot water heating has shown that thermal solar systems are both mature and technically reliable. Motivated by the confirmed success of these hot water systems, more and more home owners are also using solar energy for room heating. Nowadays about 40 solar power stations exist including 430m2 in Judenburg and most of them are used for heating water or for heating in general and the municipality of Judenburg supports people who buy such stations.
  • Photovoltaic: Currently people need crude oil, crude gas, hard coal, nuclear energy and brown coal to produce energy, but in the future the wind and biomass will also important for our economy. Photovoltaic is a new sustainable kind of energy production and in Styria we use it in old Alpine huts and badly supplied regions. Using energy obtained from photovoltaic instead of hydropower and caloric plants would lead to a decrease in the CO2 emission and save our beautiful scenery.
• 3.3 Biodiesel
  • It is an ideal fuel to be used in national parks and forests, and heavily polluted cities
  • Biodiesel is a fuel made from vegetable oil that runs any engine
  • It is the only alternative fuel that can be used directly in any existing, unmodified diesel engine
  • Biodiesel creates low emissions and is a kind of sustainable fuel:
    • 80% less carbon dioxide emissions
    • 100% less sulfur dioxide.
    • 90% reduction in total amount of unburned hydrocarbons
    • 75-90% reduction in aromatic hydrocarbons.
    • 90% reduction of cancer risks.
    • Biodiesel is 11% oxygen by weight and contains no sulfur.
  • Biodiesel is safe to handle and transport because it is as biodegradable as sugar and10 times less toxic than salt,
  • Flashpoint = 300F -- petroleum diesel fuel flashpoint = of 125F
  • Producing biodiesel from domestic crops creates jobs

4.) Measures our municipality has taken to promote the ideas of the Austrian Climate Alliance

 Judenburg joined the climate alliance 6 years ago. As a member of the climate alliance, the city has committed itself to reducing the CO2 - emissions in the next decade. The municipality has taken the following measures to decrease CO2- and NOx- emissions and gain more sustainability in our region:

• Support of public transport introducing city bus routes with cheap fares
• Measures to promote heat insulation especially of the roof and facades of public and private buildings (270Euros)
• Support heating with CO2 neutral biomass (360 Euros)
• Financial support for using solar energy (360 Euros)

 Because of the fact that 40% of Austria's energy consumption is used for heating, the municipality of Judenburg started and supported a "Thermal insulation campaign". The plan was to motivate households to improve the thermal condition by:

• Offering free energy advice
• Discounts for buying insulation material
• Special subsidies by the local authorities

 The current amount of saved energy is about 35.000 litres of heating oil.

5.) Summary

 The use of alternative energy is an efficient way to gain more sustainability based upon the issues of Agenda 21. The municipality of Judenburg cooperates with NGOs like the Austrian Climate Alliance and Local Energy Agency. They organise informational events to arouse the public interest in sustainability and change people's behaviour. Measures to promote renewable energy are important to improve our environmental quality and biodiversity.