Solid Biomass

Austria is an innovation leader in biomass boilers

Austria is regarded as a land of forests and a land of innovative biomass technologies: 4 billion hectares are covered by forests, almost 50% of the federal area. Almost 50% of the domestic energy consumption of renewable energy sources is based on wood raw materials. The production of district heating from biomass has tripled over the past ten years. More than 20% of all heating systems in Austria are based on biomass (wood). Two out of three biomass boilers in focus markets such as Germany are produced in Austria. Austria is thus the leader in innovation for biomass boilers.

The increase in sales has not led to an increase in emissions; on the contrary, a decrease in fine dust emissions from small combustion plants can be observed. Modern biomass firing systems produce only a fraction of the emissions of old solid fuel firing systems. This is the result of an optimization of the quality of wood burning, primarily by Austrian manufacturers of furnaces and boilers. In addition to the emissions, the efficiency of the plants could also be significantly improved. Since the turn of the century, biomass boilers

with an efficiency of more than 90 percent are standard.

Austria's biomass boiler manufacturers now sell 75% of their products abroad. Two out of three biomass boilers in Germany are produced in Austria. Austria also plays a leading role in the construction of pellet production plants on the world market. The largest pelleting plant in the world, based in Russia,was planned and built in 2010 by an Austrian company. The construction of the largest plant in North America in 2011 was also carried out by an Austrian company.