Austria is way ahead of most European countries in renewable energy. The province of Upper Austria has already achieved a 30 per cent share for renewables - 15 times Ireland's current level - and the number of jobs created, at 15,000, is to double by 2010.
Much of the Austrian focus is on bio-fuels, particularly timber, which is not surprising in a country where 50 per cent of the landscape is covered by forest and the conditions for tapping into wind energy are not anything like as favourable as they are in Ireland.
Huge emphasis is placed on research and development. For example, the market leading KWB wood-burning boilers evolved from a research programme started at the University of Graz in 1973 by Prof August Raggam, who set up the company 20 years later. KWB grew from just four employees and a turnover of €400,000 in 1994 to 130 employees and a turnover of €32 million in 2005. Its Energie Genie boilers, which use dense 6mm wood pellets as fuel, are now also manufactured in Germany, Italy and Slovenia.
Another company based near Graz uses KWB boilers in its Energy Cabin, which combines solar technology with wood energy. One of its new directors is Paul Kellett, who previously worked for Sustainable Energy Ireland, the State agency promoting renewables.
"The price of oil is increasing by 10 per cent a year, but wood pellet prices are stable, at around €150 per tonne for bulk delivery," he says. "A higher investment is required up front, but the savings are enormous. The problem is that people don't know about it."
One of Energy Cabin's installations is at the Inchydoney Spa near Clonakilty, Co Cork, where it has cut heating bills by almost half. In Kinsale, three houses linked to a single Energy Cabin get six months free hot water from its solar panels, according to Mr Kellett.
In Nattenbach, 100 kilometres west of Linz, 22 houses are served by a district heating system fuelled by a furnace burning wood chips supplied by local farmers. The furnace is fed automatically and only needs to be supplied with wood chips once a week. Even cooking oil is recycled. Every household gets a free 3kg sealable plastic bucket, with correspondingly larger ones for restaurants, and the oil is processed and profitably sold as a bio-fuel, mainly for cars.
All of the latest Austrian technology for sustainable development is showcased at an annual trade fair and environmental conference in Wels. Further information from the Austrian Trade Commission in Dublin, phone 01-2830488 or e-mail Dublin@austriantrade.org