Christian Rakos[4]

4.1. DISTRICT HEATING IN AUSTRIA

Energy from biomass provides about 13 per cent (130PJ) of all Austrian primary energy consumption today. The greatest part of this bioenergy use (60 per cent) can be attributed to traditional stoves and boilers fired with wood logs. Small district heating plants have, however, gained increasing importance in the last 20 years as providers of domestic heating in rural areas. These plants use wood chips, industrial wood wastes and straw as fuel, and provide about 5PJ of energy per year. By 2001, more than 600 Biomass District Heating Plants (BMDH) had been established in the country.

The advantages of biomass district heating as compared to traditional heating systems were well known in Austria. BMDH would eliminate fuel handling at the individual level, allow the provision of continuous heat, and reduce emissions sig­nificantly as the individual heating systems were predominantly old and technically poor. Despite these advantages, the introduction of BMDH was by no means an easy process. It was only successful due to a unique combination of top down policies and local bottom up initiatives. Top down policies included financial incentives and the establishment of organizations focused on the management of the introduction process.

The Austrian experience in introducing district heating constitutes a relevant case study on technology dissemination. It allows for a close observation of the interac­tion between driving forces for innovation and barriers that need to be overcome in the process. It turns out that a combination of technological performance and socio­economic factors has been the key to the successful dissemination of district heating

in Austria. As part of a systemic management, technology introduction was accomplished paying particular attention to the social system in which it was embedded. Supportive policies have played a critical role and included a multitude of measures. Particularly in the early phase of technology diffusion, dedicated institutions managed the day-by-day initial difficulties and accelerated the learning processes through continuous communication and feedback.