23 October 2008

14th Austrian Biomass Conference - 25 and 26 November - Manglburg in Grieskirchen, Austria

The 14th Austrian Biomass Conference – the “family meeting” of the Austrian and European biomass world – is being held on 25 and 26 November at the VAZ Manglburg in Grieskirchen (Upper Austria) under the motto “Biomass in the Turning Point for Energy”. The Austrian Biomass Association has invited top-calibre speakers from Austria and abroad to talk on electricity, heat and fuel from biomass.
Against the background of exploding prices for fossil energy carriers, the world is faced with an enormous problem: the question as to how we should be supplied with affordable energy in future cannot simply be ignored if even the current situation is already causing us to perspire; rather, there is a need to find solutions. Solutions whose sole, sensible aim is to bring about a change in energy use away from the limited, expensive fossil energies towards affordable, unlimited (because renewable) energies. At this year’s Austrian Biomass Conference, top-calibre experts will deal extensively with the role of biomass in this changing energy situation.
The Biomass Conference can by all means be regarded as a kaleidoscope of everything that is possible as regards the use of biomass for energy. And, in actual fact: experts from home and abroad, representing the who-is-who of the Austrian and European biomass scene, will provide deep insights into technical, economic and legal aspects related to electricity, heat and fuel from biomass, and will present perspectives for future developments which the participants will have sufficient time to discuss.
The opening speech by US Senator Marc R. Pacheco from Boston on the changing approach of the United States to renewable energies, under the heading “From Saul to Paul”, illustrates the general direction of the 14th Austrian Biomass Conference: it is clearly economic necessity that is leading to a change of thinking towards more alternative energy, coupled with the recognition that lip service can neither halt climate change nor replenish the diminishing reserves of oil and gas. Rather, the task is to act quickly and efficiently, and to assume responsibility for the opportunities of future generations in terms of both living and surviving. In Grieskirchen, the biomass family will come together and, with it, all who are aware of this responsibility and who are working on the implementation of measures which will also make it possible to bear this responsibility.
The entire programme of the 14th Austrian Biomass Conference on 25 and 26 November 2008 in Grieskirchen, which will be held in German and English with simultaneous interpreting, can be seen and downloaded at www.biomasseverband.at.