GEOTOUR & IRSE 2012.pdf - Fakulta BERG - TUKE

Salgótarján, 04. – 06. October 2012
kWh/m 2
The second figure shows the optimal inclination of photovoltaic modules. The annual total
radiation in the district of Sobrance is about 1200 kWh/m2.
Fig. 11 Global irradiation and solar electricity potential in Slovakia and Sobrance district
Source: http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/
SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLE OF DEVELOPMENT IN GUSSING, AUSTRIA
Similar situation as in the Sobrance district was in the Austrian region Burgenland. Local
institutions fought with high unemployment. As the starting point they decided to utilize all
the resources, that the region had and so achieve economic growth by contribution of
investment incentives and cooperation of individual subjects.
Burgenland is the youngest region in Austria. Gussing has approximately 4000 inhabitants. In
the 50's the region bordered with Hungary. There was a lack of jobs and many people left the
region because of work, mostly to the USA (about 9000 people). Therefore, the idea of
industrial development and creating job opportunities created, to decrease people leaving their
homes and families, and that human capital could remain in the region. The conditions were
particularly to use all natural resources and material in this region. In 1988 the construction of
the station began. The authors of the project relied on what they had: biomass, solar energy,
forests, agricultural machinery. But the important thing was to find experts in various
directions: technology, chemical processes, environmental impacts etc. At the beginning of
construction of the station's founders had to hang with the lack of funds and had to count
primarily with their own money and loans, as Austria at that time wasn´t part of the European
Union.
The basic philosophy of the installation was the final customer shouldn´t buy oil, gas, and
various raw materials from external suppliers, but to exploit domestic sources - solar,
biomass, and therefore that any money could remain in the region. It was necessary to
determine what the potential of the region is - forests, meadows and natural resources. Then it
was necessary to determine the energy consumption in the city Gussing. It was found that 70
000 ha in the region can be used for the purpose of obtaining energy, consumption would be
able to cover 136%. The investment for the construction operation in Gussing was 47 million
EUR.
The actual device in Güssing includes four operations:
1) the operation of research and development - cooperation with the Technical University in
Vienna,
2) operation of the demonstration - demonstration of how the operation works and what
benefits it provides,
3) the possibility of providing know-how - to help others who are interested and has got a
plan,
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