Anyone who reaches for the stars with ideas for saving energy

Organic vegetables from geothermal energy, an almost energy self-sufficient hotel, a dairy that produces its products using regional wood chips. In order to overcome the challenges of the energy transition, numerous different solutions are required. The state of Upper Austria and the Energy Saving Association have been awarding such solutions the “Energy Stars” since 2005. The aim is to honor projects that support the goal of making Upper Austria one of the leading energy regions in Europe.

On Monday evening, the “Energie Stars 2023” award ceremony, presented by OÖN, took place in the ORF state studio. State Energy Councilor Markus Achleitner (VP) presented the awards to the winners together with Energy Saving Association President Gerhard Dell.

“Like every year,” the number and variety of projects this year was “overwhelming,” said Dell. More than 120 submissions were presented to the jury. Many of these are a combination of several approaches to saving energy and are therefore “all the more effective”.

According to State Councilor Markus Achleitner (VP), the submissions show that Upper Austria “is one of the leading regions in Europe” when it comes to the energy transition. The reason for this is the many “young people who want to actively shape the future of the state”. Ultimately, everyone would benefit from switching to renewable energies, said Achleitner. The most innovative energy savers in the country were honored with the “Energy Star 2023” in four different categories. Three young researchers received an additional award with the “Young Researchers Award”.

Energy transition nutrition: Organic pointed peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and aubergine grow on almost twelve hectares of land at the Geinberg organic farm in the Innviertel – from the beginning of March to the end of November. This is made possible at the Geinberg organic farm by a greenhouse heated by the nearby thermal springs. “Production that is as gentle and low-emission as possible” – that is the declared goal of Biohof managing director Wolfgang Steiner. There is also a photovoltaic system on the roof of the greenhouse, which makes the Geinberg organic farm completely self-sufficient in energy.

Energy transition leisure: Sustainable holidays are possible at the Hotel Aviva in St. Stefan am Walde. Around 70 percent of the annual electricity requirement is generated by a PV system on the parking lot roof and the hotel roof. A pellet heating system was installed for hot water and interior heating. For Christian Grünbart, managing director of the hotel, saving energy is not just a question of costs: “Our guests appreciate that in addition to comfort, we also value the environment in our operation.”

Energy transition industry: At the Berglandmilch plant in Feldkirchen near Mattighofen, bioenergy is used in energy-intensive processing processes. A wood chip plant, operated with regional wood, replaces 80 percent of the annual natural gas consumption. This saves around four million kilograms of CO2. According to managing director Wolfgang Dessl, the change was “anything but easy” but was necessary “in order to achieve our own climate goals”.

Energy transition in schools: At the HTL Wels, teaching material is also used outside of class: the PV system in the energy technology laboratory has been continuously feeding electricity into the grid since this year. An existing 100 kilowatt system was recently expanded by a further 15 kilowatts. A small mobile PV system is also in feed-in mode. For the project initiator, HTL teacher Manfred Lichtenwagner, the project is “just one of the examples of how energy saving can be considered in schools”.

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