Austria – An Environmental Role Model Top Performance in

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