In a media interview yesterday, Franz Hörl, the chairman of the Austrian cable car association, expressed self-criticism: “We certainly haven’t communicated optimally in recent years.” Because the industry had already started saving energy ten years ago, but this was “not sufficiently communicated to the outside world”.
It is about the accusation that winter tourism is an energy guzzler. The operation of the cable cars is 90 or 95 percent electric, almost all companies would use green electricity, according to the highest-ranking cable car operator in Austria. “Nevertheless, we have a discussion about electricity generated from gas.”
In terms of transport volume, the industry has saved 20 percent of its energy consumption over the past ten years. “So we’re not wasting energy,” says Hörl. The incentive to save is even greater with the current high prices.
Association Managing Director Erik Wolf referred to a planned CO2 calculator for the industry, which is currently in the final test phase. The aim is to monitor “clearly and objectively recognised” how much energy the industry consumes and to provide member companies with a tool to compare their own sustainability offerings with those of other companies.
“Wind power fails due to logistics”
“The added value of our industry is very important for the regions”, but one should not forget about sustainability. According to Hörl, the construction of wind turbines on the Tyrolean mountains is currently failing primarily because of logistics, but not because of will. The logistics involved in setting up alpine wind turbines can be equated with opening up a ski area. Another idea is to use the existing storage ponds for snowmaking as pump storage in the future, says Wolf.
Source: Nachrichten
