Green Tech Magazine November 2020 (EN)

GREEN TECH MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2020
Global Research Hotspot
Industry leaders setting up in Green Tech Valley
Styria & Carinthia Join Forces
Green solutions of tomorrow from the South of Austria
Cover photo: iStock
Climate Assessment, Not Greenwashing
Climate protection is becoming a selling point

2 CONTENTS
04
DEAR READERS,
we live in exciting times. Things that
have previously seemed unshakeable
are beginning to change. Young
people are mobilising against global
warming, and the coronavirus
pandemic is demonstrating the
fragility of our internationally
interconnected economic systems.
The future holds challenges but above
all a host of opportunities: the global
electricity, heating and mobility
revolution as well as channelling
resources into real circuits.
08
06
10
13
14
In Styria, there are more than 220
companies working in the Green Tech
Cluster on new climate & circular
solutions. With 25,000 employees,
the companies generate an annual
turnover of over 5 billion euros in
Green Tech alone. Within ten years,
their green sales have trebled and
their staff numbers have doubled.
Styrian Green Tech companies
have therefore grown significantly
faster than the world markets.
In this magazine, we invite you on
a journey through the Green Tech
Valley. Come on a journey with us to
innovative research facilities where
research includes artificial intelligence,
and be inspired by fantastic
applications in all areas of Green Tech!
Yours,
Bernhard Puttinger
and the Green Tech Cluster team
Research Hotspot Growing
Industry leaders setting up in
the Green Tech Valley
Page 04
Climate Assessments
Climate protection becoming
an economic factor
Page 06
Fresh Green Tech
Innovations from the
Green Tech Valley
Page 08
Artificial Intelligence
Which AI will be
mainstream by 2025
Page 10
Partners: Austrian Ecolabels, ecolabels, PEFC, FSC
Latest
Highlights
Green Lifestyle
Getting the most out of
climate apps & food
Page 13
New 2025 Cluster Strategy
Carinthia in Green Tech Valley
and the talents of tomorrow
Page 14
Publishing information: Media owner and publisher: Green Tech Cluster Styria GmbH, Waagner-Biro-Straße 100, 8020
Graz, Austria, Tel.: +43 (0)316 407744-0, welcome@greentech.at, www.greentech.at. Content
and project management: Silke Traunfellner, Bernhard Puttinger | Support: www.textbrand.at |
Printing: Schmidbauer GmbH, www.derschmidbauer.at
Photo credits: ANDRITZ, Neo, Too good to go, Unsplash, Silke Traunfellner

World News
Europe: Lead for CO₂-neutral technologies
With the Green Deal, the EU is aiming to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions to zero by 2050, and by up to 60% by 2030. The stated
objective is also to become the world market leader in emission-free
future technologies. China is now catching up: the country will be
climate-neutral even before 2060, President Xi Jinping announced at the
last UN General Assembly. The global race for the best environmental
technologies is picking up speed. As a result of the coronavirus, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is expecting a
one-off decline of 8% in carbon dioxide emissions for 2020. According
to the IPCC, cumulative savings on this scale would be needed year on
year in order to achieve the objectives by 2030. From measurements,
scientists in Karlsruhe have additionally found out that there has been no
detectable change in the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere to date.
bit.ly/lead-co2neutral
India
Rest of
the world
EU 28
6,6
9,5
The CO₂ Emitters
USA
Percentage of global emissions
19,6
13,8
21,2
29,3
China
Asia without
China
Who will be the largest issuer of Green Bonds?
As part of the coronavirus recovery plan, the EU Commission is planning
to use so-called “Green Bonds”. These are bonds from which the
issue proceeds go to the financing of climate-friendly projects with
ecological or social benefit. Of the 800 billion euros that the EU wants
to issue in new bonds, 100 billion will be used for example as part of
the “SURE” project to safeguard jobs. In addition, according to EU
budget commissioner Johannes Hahn, it is envisaged that part of the
750-billion-euro “Next Generation EU” investment programme will also
be financed through green bonds. The EU could therefore become the
world’s largest issuer of green bonds.
bit.ly/eu-green-bonds
Democratisation of the energy supply
In Europe, it is now possible to form energy communities. These are
limited geographically and permitted to use only renewable energy
sources, and a number of EU countries have already created a legal
framework for them. Austria will follow in January 2021. In addition
to community generating plants, energy communities can also be
implemented as private consumption models across property boundaries.
Existing energy cooperatives could act as market players and
expand their portfolios. There are great business opportunities to be
found at the present time, with technology and software developers,
aggregators and operators of trading platforms, service providers
and residential property developers.
bit.ly/green-news1
Photo credit: iStock
Raw materials alliance established
Permanent magnets based on rare earth metals are essential
components in many high-tech products and of great importance
for digitalisation and the transition to cleaner energy. However,
to meet the demands of the European Union, a large proportion
of raw materials has to be imported. As the main exporter, China
dominates and controls the global market. By establishing the
European Raw Materials Alliance, the EU has now taken a significant
step towards countering this imbalance. Securing raw materials
for the production of rare earth magnets is right at the top of
the agenda here.
bit.ly/eu-rohstoffallianz

4
The LEC's full-engine test rig for e-fuels and hydrogen on the campus of Graz University of
Technology offers globally unique opportunities for the development of innovative technologies.
Research Hotspot
Green Tech Valley
Industry leaders Andritz and Verbund are setting up new research infrastructure
for recycling and hydrogen technologies in Green Tech Valley. The valley is
therefore a growing hotspot, with a current total of 20 technology
leaders and 1,800 university researchers in Green Tech.
Environmental technology and renewable
energies in particular are a global growth
market. Business Consultant Roland
Berger is expecting growth of almost seven
Within five years, the number of university researchers has increased by
50% to 1,800.
percent in this area, to 5,900 billion euros
by 2025. Further acceleration in this growth
is therefore expected from the EU “Green
Deal”. Here, the Green Tech Cluster is one
of the global driving forces.
Around 20 technology leaders
have now emerged or settled
here, many with strong research
units, technical facilities and
innovation centres.
New recycling research centre
for global customers
Global machinery and plant
manufacturer Andritz has
moved its technical centre from
subsidiary Andritz MeWa near
Stuttgart to the Austrian location
of St. Michael in Upper Styria. At this Andritz
Recycling Technology centre – ART – new
materials, new machine configurations for
diverse applications, new product designs
and innovations are tested under real
conditions with industrial-sized machines.
“We know how important it is to ensure
continuous improvement in processes and
products. At the ART centre, we therefore
also offer our customers the opportunity
to experiment with new machines and
configurations as well as diverse materials,
in order to find the very best solution for
their respective requirements,” Andritz
Reject & Recycling Vice President Michael
Waupotitsch, clarifies. Key reasons for
the relocation included the good research
infrastructure and the cooperation with the
Photo credits: LEC, AT&S, ANDRITZ

GREEN TECH MAGAZINE 5
Recycling research at the highest level: The "Andritz Recycling Technology Center"
offers customers innovative technology and material testing.
University of Leoben in the area of waste
management technology, initiated by the
Green Tech Cluster. The university has set
up in the same building the “Digital Waste
Research Lab” for testing the latest sensor
technology. There is also close cooperation
with established local business, such as
Mayer Recycling. The fact that Styria is
a good location for innovative recycling
technologies is also demonstrated by
Austrian sorting machine specialist
Redwave likewise setting up a technical
facility near Gleisdorf, next to Graz.
Coal-Fired power station becomes a
research centre for Green Energy
After completing the carbon exit, energy
group Verbund is converting Mellach
power station near Graz into a group-wide
innovation centre for hydrogen, storage
and digital solutions. In the “Hotflex”
research project together with the Institute
of Thermal Engineering at Graz University
of Technology and plant manufacturer
Sunfire, a 150-kilowatt pilot plant has been
set up for high-temperature analysis and
fuel cell operation in which electricity is
converted into hydrogen. This so-called
“green” hydrogen can be added to natural
gas and the power grids can be stabilised by
the use of excess electricity from renewable
energies – a prerequisite for widespread
use such as of photovoltaic systems.
Verbund invites companies and researchers
from all over Europe to test new hydrogen
technologies in a so-called real laboratory
in Mellach. For example, the Large Engines
Competence Center (LEC) is conducting
research into green energy from hydrogen
for large engines. “Such a laboratory, where
hydrogen technologies can be tested over
several months, can cost over seven million
euros,” Managing Director of LEC Andreas
Wimmer says. This cooperation is therefore
all the more financially beneficial. “Liquid
e-fuels can also be stored and transported
very easily.”
“This is what makes the Green
Tech Cluster so unique: I can find
the right expertise here for
every question.”
Andreas Wimmer
Managing Director LEC
Research par excellence
As a world-leading research facility for
large engine technology, LEC based on the
campus of Graz University of Technology
works with a variety of industry partners
and research facilities, from AVL List to
the University of Leoben. The complete
infrastructure from test rigs with singlecylinder
research engines to the world’s only
full engine test rig for e-fuels and hydrogen
is available here for joint projects. “The
tasks are becoming increasingly complex,”
says Managing Director Wimmer from LEC.
“A centre for research excellence has been
established in this location, where rapid and
intensive exchange between the different
fields is possible within a small area.” Of
special significance here, according to
Wimmer, is the Green Tech Cluster with its
over 220 members and particular focus on
strategic cooperation.
Eleven out of thirteen Austrian competence
centres in the area of Green Tech are located
in southern Austria, in Green Tech Valley. In
the last five years, 113 industrial innovation
projects have been instigated here as keys
to the green growth of the future, and the
number of green-tech researchers at the
universities and research institutions alone
has risen by 50% to 1,800. By 2025, the aim
is a further 1,000 researchers – a global
research hotspot for climate protection and
circular economy solutions.

6
Consumer demand for climate-neutral
production is increasing. This can become an
economic factor.
Photo credit: veeterzy, Unsplash
Climate assessments:
The future of the economy
More and more companies want to be climate-neutral by 2030. So-called
“climate assessments” provide the basis for a reduction in energy consumption,
mobility demand or material procurement.
Record temperatures in Siberia, devastating
forest fires in California – although
this year’s summer was generally rainy at
our latitudes, climate change is in our midst.
As things stand, the average temperature in
Central Europe will increase by at least three
degrees by the end of this century. This makes
it all the more important to implement the
Paris Agreement on climate protection and
to approach the target of 1.5 degrees.
Climate protection is becoming a selling
point
There is increasing demand on businesses
to disclose climate-related information and
to provide information about their climate
impact and risks. The legislature is also visibly
responding and requires the preparation of
a “climate assessment” balance sheet, like a
balance sheet in financial accounting. The aim
is to gain clarity about the greenhouse gas
emissions caused by energy and materials.
Be it to save resources and thus costs in
order to meet customer requirements,
demonstrate the climate-friendliness of
products/services or generally reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, and thus be prepared
for future CO₂ pricing.
Identifying and exploiting opportunities
Using the “ESG Cockpit” climate calculator
web tool (developed by Styrian company
akaryon and the Austrian Federal Environment
Agency), businesses can efficiently
produce climate assessments with the support
of experts from the Sustainable Styria
economic initiative. As well as the result in
CO₂ equivalents, these also include other
energy and mobility consumption figures
in a structured way and therefore already
provide several figures that are also required
in environmental or sustainability reporting
(Global Reporting Initiative – GRI).
Ten Styrian businesses from ten different
industries have used the last few months to
produce initial climate assessments of their
company sites and to develop a plan of action
to reduce their GHG emissions. These pilot
projects have been supported by the Sustainable
Styria economic initiative and form the
prelude to a focus on “climate assessment in
Styrian SMEs” in 2020/2021.
Let’s get started!
If you are interested in collaboration,
please contact the office of the Styrian State
Government Department, Section 14 – Water
Management, Resources and Sustainability
(www.win.steiermark.at, e-mail: abteilung14@
stmk.gv.at).
Info
The Sustainable Styria economic initiative – WIN – is the Styrian “regional programme
for corporate environmental protection”. Sponsors of the initiative include the Styrian
Chamber of Commerce, the state of Styria and the Austrian Ministry of Climate Protection.
Subsidised, externally supported consultation projects aim to encourage businesses and
local authorities to operate in a way that is socially and ecologically responsible as well as
forward-thinking.

Greenhouse Emissions Along the Value Chain
Scope 1, 2 and 3 Emissions
GREEN TECH MAGAZINE 7
SF₆ CO₂ CH₄ N₂O HFCs PFCs
Consumption of
energy obtained
externally
Processing, use
and disposal
of goods
Scope 2 - Indirect Scope 1 - Direct Scope 3 - Indirect
Upstream Activities
Reporting Business
Up- & Downstream Activities
Climate Assessment (Compound Noun)
Photo credit: AT&S | Source: GHG protocol
What is a climate assessment?
When the climate assessment of a business
is prepared in accordance with the
international standard GHG Greenhouse
Gas Protocol, all greenhouse gas emissions
such as CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O are recorded
and identified. In addition to the direct
emissions by the business itself (scope 1), it
also includes indirect emissions as a result
of the energy procured, such as electricity,
heating, cooling or steam (scope 2), and
indirect emissions as a result of upstream
and downstream activities, such as the
production and transport of purchased
goods, employee commuting and business
travel or the distribution and use of
proprietary products through to waste
disposal (scope 3, not compulsory). There
are various adjusting screws to turn, which
are revealed by the climate assessment.
Printed circuit board manufacture at AT&S: All fossil energy sources
on all sites worldwide will be replaced by 2030.
The market demands climate accounting
as well as reductions
Together with emission reduction measures,
climate assessments are clearly more
important for businesses such as those
in the mobility or IT sector. From a purely
economic perspective, is it not beneficial to
focus on this issue of the future?
AT&S is a world-leading circuit board
manufacturer and one of the first pioneers
of climate assessment. The group’s energy
needs should be supplied at least 80%
from renewable energy sources by 2025,
and entirely by 2030. The company – and
now the industry – places great emphasis
on CO₂-neutral products and eco-friendly
services. “Full recording of all emissions
forms the foundation of all corporate
decisions based on this,” says Heinz Moitzi
from AT&S. “The EU Green Deal in
particular will also provide a great
boost in the competition with
China.”
Joanneum Research supports
many companies on their path
to climate neutrality, for example
with designing products and
the production process in such
a way that they are climateneutral
over the entire life
process. “Accounting for the CO₂
emissions from products and
services or even company sites
is,” Franz Prettenthaler from Joanneum
Research explains, “an initial step towards
improving resource efficiency and reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.” It is also
financially beneficial, as many measures are
associated with direct cost savings.
Rail logistics and pencils on the path to
climate neutrality
For rail transport specialist company
LTE Austria, the climate assessment is an
important communication tool. “Lorry
traffic in Austria produces more than 15
times as many greenhouse gases as rail
traffic,” CEO Andreas Mandl says, “and is
responsible for around 44% of emissions
from road traffic.” By contrast, over 90% of
the energy required in rail freight transport
comes from renewables. The climate
assessment shows the transparency of the
competitive distortion between road and
rail.
The company Brevillier Urban & Sachs,
which has around 35 employees in Graz,
has a long tradition in the manufacture of
wooden-barrelled writing accessories, wax
crayons and button colours. According to
the climate assessment, the company emits
a total of 673 t CO₂ for 41 million pens and
paint palettes. The assessment has created
the basis for further climate protection
actions on the path to climate neutrality.

8
Fresh
Waste management solution on an island
Guernsey: an island that is popular as a holiday resort in the English
Channel, which belongs to Great Britain as crown possession, but
is independent and which even inspired Victor Hugo. In order to
preserve this idyll, the Bailiwick relies on the production of substitute
fuel (RDF) and Lindner technology for waste management. Little
space, lower tonnages but nonetheless maximum productivity –
such special requirements demand intelligent solutions. The Polaris
1800 shredder currently processes around 8 tonnes of municipal
waste per hour into alternative fuel.
www.lindner.com
Silent classic
With the electrification of the icon that is the 356 Speedster, two
longstanding electromobility professionals – Daniel Hammerl (former
Director of Tesla Austria) and Christian Fries (founder of Neoworld
and ecar-rent) – have joined forces to celebrate a revival of this classic.
Together with the aerodynamic and lightweight design of the Speedster,
the VW Beetle as the technical basis guarantees an efficient electric
vehicle that is also still great fun. The plan is to launch a small series on the
market in 2021 – the first two prototypes are already en route to test runs.
www.kilowattclassics.com
New recycling facility for catalytic converters
Treibacher Industrie AG from Carinthia handles used catalytic
converters from the oil industry and processes them into reusable
materials. The aim is to invest around 90 million euros in the
new construction of the facility, which should increase capacity
and at the same time further reduce emission levels. With the
new construction of the facility, the proportion of usable recycled
materials should increase to 99 percent. The circular process
represents a contribution to the European Green Deal and saves on
the mining of 500,000 tonnes of ore per year.
bit.ly/recyclinganlage-treibacher
Efficient biomass for Japan
International technology group Andritz is supplying a Power-
Fluid fluidised bed boiler including flue gas cleaning system
to Japan. The boiler is part of a biomass power plant to be
newly constructed around 200 km southwest of Tokyo, to
feed green energy into the public electricity grid. The biomass
power plant fired with wood pellets and palm kernel shells will
deliver around 75 MWe. The fluidised bed boiler stands out for
its minimal emissions, high efficiency and high availability as well
as great fuel flexibility.
www.andritz.com/group-en
Photo credits: Lindner-Recyclingtech, Neo, ANDRITZ, Treibacher

GREEN TECH MAGAZINE 9
Green Tech
NRGkick Connect – 100% sun in the tank
Charge the electric vehicle with its own solar power and thereby take
a further step towards climate-friendly mobility! With its NRGkick
mobile charger, the company DiniTech has facilitated locationindependent
charging at any outlet since 2015. With the smart feature
of NRGkick Connect, pure solar power can now also be charged
using one of four possible strategies. Using a smartphone app, it
is easy to control whether only surplus energy is used for charging
or whether charging is controlled from the Sunny Home Manager.
www.nrgkick.com
Photo credits: DiniTech, Binder+Co, lixtec, JR-AquaConSol
Innovative 2-in-1-Screen from Binder+Co
The aim of this addition to the product range was to combine
two products into one machine, in order to offer the customer
a cost-effective solution in terms of investment and operating
costs. To achieve this, the resonance screening machine, which
creates low dynamic loads by means of mass balancing, and the
expansion shaft system from BIVITEC were combined. This fusion
of machines results in a lightweight design and accompanying
lower drive power. Savings of up to 40% on weight and up to
60% on energy are therefore possible with the BIVITEC e+. This
latest innovation was honoured with the Innovation Award in July.
www.binder-co.at
Exclusive deal with world market leader
JR-AquaConSol has landed a comprehensive deal for the
production, sale and servicing of the lysimeter from world
market leader METER. A lysimeter helps with responding to new
environmental conditions by recording interactions between the
atmosphere, plants, soil, wildlife and groundwater. It measures
matrix potential, temperature, precipitation, moisture content,
electrical conductivity, evaporation, CO₂ and methane content
as well as many other parameters. Thanks to this new business
area, JR-AquaConSol in Graz is experiencing massive growth.
www.aquaconsol.at
Plug & Play solution for demand-based
lighting
The need to save energy is a matter of course in everyday life, yet
roads are still illuminated regardless of the volume of traffic. In the
area of sensor technology for demand-based lighting, Graz-based
company lixtec offers the option of providing light dynamically and
in a precise location. With the new plug & play solution LIX.One SLC,
lights can be easily upgraded and illuminated according to demand,
thanks to radar sensor technology. They therefore contribute to
achievement of the climate targets through maximum energy saving.
www.lixtec.com

10
Artificial intelligence will
shape the next 5 years
Artificial intelligence (AI) triggers fascination and anxiety in equal measure.
Especially in environmental technology, solutions facilitated by AI offer great
potential, for example as demonstrated by the Green Tech Valley and the new
Gartner Hype Cycle.
“Artificial intelligence (AI) is nothing
new,” Robert Ginthör outlines. “What
is new is that the hardware has improved
so much that the systems are now able
to learn from the data for themselves
and constantly to improve themselves.”
Ginthör is the Technical Director of the
Know-Center at Graz University of
Technology and runs the “Big Data Lab”
there. Current focuses include applied and
interdisciplinary IT research in the area of
data-driven business, artificial intelligence,
big data and cognitive computing.
European top player in the area of AI
Here, the Know-Center works in close
collaboration with partners from business,
from start-ups to large corporations. One
of these is high-tech start-up Leftshift
One. Established in Graz in 2017, Leftshift
One currently employs 40 people. The
company has developed Europe’s first
generic development environment for
proprietary AI applications and is one of
Europe’s top 30 AI companies according
to Forbes. In future, the operating system
developed by Leftshift One will run not only
existing in-house capabilities – so-called
“skills” – but also complex AI functionalities
from the Know-Center.
“Opening up our operating system for
certified third-party providers facilitates
the easy integration of existing AI
concepts by our customers,” Leftshift One
CEO Patrick Ratheiser says. “Together
with the Know-Center as a development
partner, we are able to reflect the whole
world of artificial intelligence in our
operating system and thus significantly
speed up our customers’ processes.” One
of the newest projects from the AI startup
in Graz is a piece of software that uses
artificial intelligence to filter out prejudices
from data, effectively an “ethical operating
system” that comes into
its own for example in the
area of staff recruitment.
AI for sustainable
mobility
Especially in environmental
technology, many AI
applications are emerging
for sustainable energy
and mobility systems and
competitive industries.
Graz-based software
company Parkside, which
has 80 staff on site and
in Silicon Valley, recently
developed an AI-controlled solution
around green & healthy mobility for the
start-up RideAmigos. “Smart cities” are
primarily about networking voltage and
cable sensors, intelligent power networks,
traffic flows and logistics. The end result
is a working system that is constantly
optimising itself. Large companies such
as General Electric and Siemens are
conducting intensive research in this area.
In logistics, waste recycling company
Saubermacher relies as much on big
data analyses as energy supply company
Energie Graz, which is using the analysed
AI is here: During Covid, chatbots have been responding to the barrage
of questions in connection with the pandemic. Machine learning models
have proven indispensable for modelling the effects on the economy.

Hype Cycle for Artificial Intelligence, 2020
Expectations
Knowledge Graphs
Intelligent Applications
Deep Neural Network ASICs
Data Labeling and
Annotation Services
Smart Robots
Decision Intelligence
AI Developer and Teaching Kits
AI Govemance
Augmented Intelligence
Neuromorphic Hardware
Things as Customers
Responsible AI
AI Marketplaces
Small Data
Artificial General Intelligence
Generative AI
Composite AI
Digital Ethics
Edge AI
AI Cloud Services
Deep Neural Networks (Deep Learning)
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Machine Learning
FPGA Accelerators
Chatbots
Autonomous Vehicles
Cognitive Computing
Computer Vision
Insight Engines
GREEN TECH MAGAZINE 11
GPU Accelerators
Most applications will reach the
mainstream within five years. Gartner
recommends that companies set
priorities and make provisions within this
timeframe, so that they can then take full
advantage of the AI innovations.
As of July 2020
Innovation
Trigger
Peak of
Inflated
Expectations
Trough of
Disillusionment
Slope of
Enlightenment
Plateau of
Productivity
Plateau will be reached in:
Time
Less than 2 years 2 to 5 years 5 to 10 years More than 10 years Obsolete before plateau
Source: Gartner Inc.| Photo credit: Know-Center, Jorj Konstantinov
usage behaviour to optimise the electricity
and heating system. The fully automated
“Pick-it-Easy Robot” system from Knapp
uses AI to help with goods logistics, such
as in e-commerce in the food industry. And
digital sommelier “Lumiere” from Leftshift
One uses dialogue to determine the wine
variety of connoisseurs and tailors the
selection to this. The possibilities of AI
seem to be almost endless.
Hype Cycle for “Artificial Intelligence”
The Gartner Hype Cycle for Artificial
Intelligence describes the development
of AI in five phases: from the first
technological triggers, over the peak
of inflated expectations, through the
trough of disillusionment and up the
slope of enlightenment until eventually
reaching the plateau of productivity. Some
technologies, such as speech recognition
and the acceleration of graphics
processors, have already reached the
final stage; others, such as autonomous
vehicles, will need strong AI that is superior
to human beings and will take more ten
years before final realisation. Chatbots,
AI-assisted management (insight engines)
and “augmented Intelligence” will be
market-ready in the next two to five years,
according to Gartner, whereas technologies
such as smart robots and AI marketplaces
still need up to ten years before they reach
the plateau of productivity. And some,
such as cognitive computing, will already
be obsolete before then.
Outlook for the future
With all the successes, AI specialist Robert
Ginthör estimates that humans will not
be so quickly replaced with artificial
intelligence. “So-called weak AI performs
supporting functions, such as image
recognition. Strong AI would be on a par
with humans in cognitive areas; we are
still a long way from that. And super AI is
superior to humans; some scientists think
that could be here by 2040.” In any case,
AI will have an impact in many areas of
our lives and create entirely new business
sectors. The potential and applications are
vast.
Source: Gartner ID: 448060
Stefanie Lindstaedt, Know-Center CEO
and Professor at Graz University of
Technology, puts it in a nutshell:
“Today, there is an immense
amount of talk about big data and
AI. However, what is ultimately
needed is to put it into practice
and to develop business models,
which is also what we do in
around 150 projects every year.”
Stefanie Lindstaedt
Managing Director
Know-Center

12
Plastic
becomes
greener
Plastic as an everyday product has fallen into disrepute. As part of
an international consortium, research company Joanneum Research is
working intensively on making the entire lifecycle of plastic greener.
Drink containers, salad trays, fast food
boxes, carrier bags and similar products
made of polymers have many qualities.
They protect from moisture and dirt, they
do not leak and they are therefore practical
for use on the go. However, most of these
packagings comprise several layers of
plastic and plastic laminates, which makes
recycling difficult or even impossible. All
too often, after a single use, plastic bags
end up in the environment and find their
way into rivers, into the sea and – as has
been proven – into animal and human
bodies as microplastics.
It is this urgent problem that EU project
“FlexFunction2Sustain” is addressing. Here,
19 European partners are focusing on the
sustainable production of plastic avoiding
CO₂, on recycling and on biodegradability
at the end of the product lifecycle. One
of the research partners is the “Materials”
institute of Joanneum Research. On the
site in Weiz, intensive work is underway
to develop biodegradable embossing
lacquers and sustainable stamping tools
for nanostructuring films.
“For the circular economy, we are backing
the use of various nanocoatings,” Project
Manager Barbara Stadlober explains.
“These carry no weight in recycling. If any
individual layers are even a few nanometres
too thin, they are not counted as a second
element.” The different minimal layers on
the scale of nanometres (a nanometre
is a millionth of a millimetre) are required
in order to guarantee desired product
attributes such as stability and lightness.
In addition, light-blocking and even
antiviral or antibacterial properties can
be added. Other partners undertake
sustainable film production for example
from recycled PET or renewable raw
materials. “The aim is for us to switch to
bio-based materials,” Joanneum-Research
Scientific Project Manager Dieter Nees
says. “These are manufactured with sugar,
starch or bioalcohol. Also, they are often
biodegradable. The best case would be no
Information &
Contact
The hybrid electronics and structuring
research group of MATERIALS develops
structuring processes for the largescale
production of flexible micro- and nanostructured
layers or fully integrated
components in organic electronics, packaging
technology, lighting technology
and optoelectronics, medical technology,
and chemical, physical and biological
sensor technology.
www.joanneum.at
longer to need any mineral oil for a product.”
CO₂-free production from biomaterials
The research work and the new, tried and
tested technologies ultimately feed into
marketable products and should make the
entire production process and its materials
sustainable. These development processes
are precursors to many learning processes
and experiences with special pioneering
technologies, such as roll-to-roll
nanoimprinting (R2R), an energy-saving
printing process attributable to the area of
green electronics. The “Materials” institute
is therefore a pioneer of green production.
Barbara Stadlober
JOANNEUM RESEARCH
MATERIALS
+43 316 876-3100
barbara.stadlober@
joanneum.at
Photo credit: JOANNEUM RESEARCH/Manuela Schwarzl

GREEN TECH MAGAZINE 13
Green
Lifestyle
United against food waste
Climate apps help to make the world a better place
“Be the world’s best friend; ask your climate-app!” 2020 is not only the
year of the coronavirus and SpaceX but also the year of climate apps.
Several new apps are currently in development or already on the market
as beta versions. For many consumers it is generally very time-consuming
and complex to shop in a way that is more climate-neutral. These smart
apps help to analyse the CO₂ footprint of our shopping, provide feedback
on whether individual products in it contain ingredients – such as palm
oil – that are harmful to the environment, and offer us more sustainable
alternatives. Three app suggestions: inoqo, klimakompass and Klima.
play.google.com, apps.apple.com
Wolfgang Jilek’s Cartoon Smart Building
According to estimates, 88 million tonnes of food is wasted
every year in the EU. This translates to 173 kilograms per
person. The app Too Good To Go offers some redress. For its
partner catering businesses with food that would otherwise
be thrown away after closing, the Danish start-up offers to
sell this food cheaply to users of the app. Outside opening
hours, users can drop in during a clearly defined time
window and collect some of the leftover products. Too Good
To Go users benefit from heavily reduced prices: for three
to five euros, they can obtain meals that would actually
cost more than twice as much. This both saves delicious
food and converts surplus into revenue for the partners.
www.toogoodtogo.com
BackCup: the
reusable deposit
cup for Graz
Photo credits: inoqo, Too good to go, Stadt Graz Umweltamt
Enjoy a coffee: protect the
environment! In Graz, delicious
takeaway coffee is available
on almost every corner. That
is great. What is less great is
that most coffee cups are used
once and then thrown away.
Because of this, there is now
the BackCup, a reusable deposit cup from the city of Graz,
which is easy both to fill and to return. When you buy a
coffee/tea, you pay a deposit of one euro; the cup can
then be either refilled by the partner business or returned.
To date, there are 71 businesses supporting the initiative.
www.umwelt.graz.at

14
Vision 100: 1 Earth. 0 Carbon. 0 Waste.
Green Tech
Valley 2025
With the new 2025 strategy, the Green Tech Cluster is aiming for
growth of the company and the ecosystem. The state of Carinthia is
now joining the Cluster. One of the focuses is on young talents.
Previous cluster aims surpassed
Innovative climate protection is an economic
driver for southern Austrian Green Tech
companies: In Green Tech Valley, the world’s
leading hotspot for innovative solutions
in the climate and circular economy, new
technological benchmarks are emerging,
such as the most efficient hydropower plants,
bespoke wind power generators and leading
recycling facilities for batteries. These combine
climate protection with regional growth. It is
this spirit of innovation that the member
companies of the Green Tech Cluster have
applied to 117 joint projects over the last five
The participation of Carinthia in the Styrian Green Tech Cluster opens
the door to new collaborations & innovations for Carinthian companies.
years and thus surpassed the objectives. The
location is being expanded further with the
new cluster strategy.
“The Styrian companies and research institutions
in the Green Tech sector demonstrate
impressively that climate protection and
economic success are not mutually exclusive.
In recent years, they have seen outstanding
development and are making a major
contribution to protecting the climate with
new products and technologies. On account
of this and for the benefit of sustainability for
future generations, we will continue to push
ahead with the expansion of
green technologies together
with the Green Tech Cluster,”
State Minister for the Economy
Barbara Eibinger-Miedl says.
New strategy: 100% for a
greener future
Our vision is a healthy
environment with no additional
greenhouse gases and waste.
To make that possible, we are
developing innovative climate
protection and recycling
solutions. At present, 20%
of the world’s green electricity is already
generated using technologies from Green
Tech Valley. “We want the valley to grow and
are aiming at 1,000 additional researchers
in the location over the next five years as
well as a volume of 100 million euros of
initiated cooperation,” Green Tech Cluster
Managing Director Bernhard Puttinger
says. To achieve this, the excellent research
and development in the location are
being expanded and the establishment of
new centres of innovation and excellence
is being intensified together with a
cooperative culture of innovation. The focus
is on innovative solutions for the integrated
heating revolution, green gas and
hydrogen, positive energy districts, digitalised
recycling chains, new sorting technologies
and battery recycling.
The sphere of influence is growing
With participation of the state of
Carinthia in the Cluster, the globally visible
ecosystem in southern Austria is growing.
In Carinthia, there are 70 to 100 businesses
operating in this promising sector.
In Styria, the Green Tech Cluster is already
used by 220 companies as a platform
for cooperation and innovation.
Photo credit: Office Deputy State Governor Schaunig

GREEN TECH MAGAZINE 15
The aim of Green Tech Summer Graz was to awaken students’
entrepreneurial spirit and to encourage the establishment
of Green Tech start-ups in Styria.
Photo credit: Silke Traunfellner
“The Green Tech Cluster is an internationally
top-rated network that empowers companies
for growth with green innovations. The
present cooperation of Carinthia and Styria in
the Cluster gives rise to synergies and expands
the critical mass in this area,” Carinthian
Deputy State Governor Gaby Schaunig says.
“The Green Tech Cluster offers international
visibility, joint innovation opportunities and a
valuable network for Carinthian businesses in
the areas of solar, biomass, wind, hydropower
and recycling.”
One initial joint focus of both federal states
is the sustainable production and use of
hydrogen as a driver of the energy and mobility
revolution. To this end, the new Green Tech
radar highlights the technology and market
opportunities in the coming years.
Turning young talents into Green
Tech CEOs
A hotspot can be identified by the talented
people who emerge here. That is why the new
“Green Tech Summer Graz” strategic initiative
is aimed at the international students in Graz,
enabling them to develop their green startup
here during the summer holidays. In this
nationwide Austrian pilot initiative, smart
business ideas such as packaging material
made from dairy waste, a leather alternative
made from sugar residues, an app for improved
indoor greenery and many more have been
developed into launch-ready businesses.
The Graz climate fund has provided the
students with starting capital of up to 4,000
euros per person as well as workshops
offering expertise from SFG, the Cluster, the
Gründungsgarage and Science Park Graz
for a functional start-up: starting with a
smart idea, the provision has included active
learning and implementation of founder
workshops, coaching, pitch training, business
plan preparation, contacts with partners,
acceptance on a start-up programme
and more. For the right start in business,
participants have also had the opportunity to
use the Green Tech Hub as an innovative office
environment in the Smart City of Graz.
Milkywaste, one of the young start-ups, is
hoping to redefine the packaging industry:
“Edible bioplastic made of dairy waste
aims to make packaging cost-effective and
greener. Waste and waste management costs
will be reduced, facilitating sustainability
Ivan Knechtl
Green Tech Summer Graz
Graduate 2020
with a profit,” says Slovene Ivan Knechtl,
who founded Milkywaste as part of Green
Tech Summer Graz in 2020. With such
talents, new cutting-edge research and joint
development of innovative solutions in the
South of Austria, a green future is growing
globally, made in the Green Tech Valley.
www.greentech.at/strategie

16
Did you know?
Power storage made of vanillin
Vanillin is useful in more than just Christmas biscuits; researchers
at Graz University of Technology have successfully converted
flavouring agent vanillin into a redox-active electrolyte material
for liquid batteries. Redox flow batteries can now be made more
environmentally friendly by replacing their core element – liquid
electrolytes with components that are generally made of ecologically
harmful heavy metals or rare earths – with vanillin. The technology
is a major step towards ecologically sustainable energy storage.
bit.ly/stromspeicher-vanillin
Crystals for hydrogen production
Researchers at Freiberg University of Mining and Technology
want to use a little-explored property of certain crystals in
order to produce hydrogen by means of water electrolysis.
Pyroelectricity is a physical phenomenon in which heat can be
converted into electricity via certain crystals or the voltage generated
can be used for chemical reactions. Already in use in devices such as
motion sensors, this newly developed model means that the volume
of hydrogen produced can be stated and predicted for the first time.
bit.ly/kristalle-wasserstoffe
“Living” robots – Xenobots
US scientists have developed “living” robots from frog cells, which
look like tiny clouds. They are biodegradable and self-repairing. As the
cellular robot is made of natural materials, it produces no electrical
waste and can be implanted in the human body much more easily
than other materials. The researchers are confident that, in the future,
biorobots will be able to transport medicines to specific locations in
the body. At present, the Xenobot is still much too large for that but
it is already able to carry small “packages”. It could therefore also be
used in the area of microplastic collection in the oceans. Xenobots have
fascinating capabilities but also raise ethical questions.
bit.ly/1xenobots
Clean nappy recycling
Researchers from the Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology
(acib) have developed an environmentally friendly recycling process
for ordinary nappies. In the past, nappies have been incinerated or
sent to landfill, as recycling of the composite materials has been too
expensive and its quality has been inadequate for the industry with
respect to the circular economy. The enzymatic recycling process from
acib could complete this circle. From the nappy waste, it could be
possible to obtain basic components for the chemical industry,
bioethanol or new polymers. www.acib.at
Photo credits: Lunghammer – Graz University of Technology, SquishyRobot, Freiberg University of Mining and Technology - Sven Jachalke, Unsplash