Students:Group Three: Eliška, Kiki, Magda, Veronika

First Assignment

We started our day at a suburb of the city of Graz at the headquarters of the Saubermacher company that was established with regard to sustainable development using modern technologies and solar panels as an ecological source of energy. This private company is located next to Graz and has gradually developed from a family-size company to become a large international specialist engaged in the sorting and subsequent treatment of waste. Although the company is active in more European countries, the day’s presentation dealt only with the issue of handling communal waste in Austria.

The waste coming from industry was set aside and the presenter, Mr. Richard Dornauer, was perfectly prepared and all of us were given a handout so that we could follow his presentation in an easier way. The company Saubermacher is mechanized to a great extent and human resources exist merely as an controlling element at the very end of the waste sorting process. A very interesting point was the issue of using residual plastic in the form of flakes as fuel for a cement factory. Apart from the provinces of Styria, Vienna and Lower Austria, Saubermacher also has 40 subsidiary companies in several European countries, including the Czech Republic. There we can talk about the Rumpold Company that provides all services in the field of handling waste with regard to the environment. Our whole field trip was perfect, although we missed out on seeing the process ourselves.

Img 1: Saubermacher company.[1][2]

In the afternoon we went to the southeast border of Styria. In the city of Mureck we visited three companies working together on one site. From 1990 SEEG, Nahwärme and ökoStrom have worked with bioenergy here. Before Nahwärme was set up, the Mureck district was dependent on fossil fuels whereas the surrounding forests were full of "useless" wood. The idea of having a local source for heating developed into today's company which collects wood from surrounding areas and during the winter it burns the material and produces heat for Mureck's schools, municipal buildings, church and 210 households.

The idea to build ökoStrom – a biogas power plant – came in 2000. Now it collects sewage and liquid waste from agriculture in huge tanks. The mixture is then sealed into tanks and under an anaerobic process it produces biogas that produces electricity as well as a little bit of heat. The company, together with locals, decided to use better technology for emission extraction from the escaping air.

SEEG, the last of the trinity, is responsible for biodiesel production from rapeseed. Biodiesel is used by local farmers but mainly by public transport companies and SEEG’s trucks. In addition, it also powers a biogas unit and local heating. There is also the possibility of using cooking oil as an additional material. A few years previously restaurant chains were happy to get rid of used cooking oil but later on its value was recognised and competition between biofuel companies arose, and so its price increased. Because of the lower price of electricity, the companies are not only dependent on subsidies and other new investments must be found. Therefore, there is new PV power plant on the field next to the site. Even more efficient is the idea to build a glasshouse with organic vegetables and PV panels on the roof, which is better subsidized.

The motto of the company: Nature-Energy-Mureck Region-Peace, aptly expresses its philosophy and the emphasis on local development and self-sufficiency . It may also be caused by the fact that a majority of owners are local farmers. From the presentation of this place, we would highlight the complexity of the bioenergy cycle and the best technologies available .

Img 3: Mureck Energy Cycle, Source: Bio-energy Mureck brochure

BIODIESEL

Advantages

- One of the main advantages of biodiesel fuel is that it is less polluting than petroleum diesel and is also renewable.

- It has excellent biodegradability (after 28 days it degrades by 95% compared to 40% biodiesel, petroleum diesel).

- The lubricating property of the biodiesel may lengthen the lifetime of engines

- Pure biodiesel is a non-toxic, environmentally friendly fuel that does not contain sulfur, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and halogens.

Disadvanteges

- At present, biodiesel fuel is about one and a half times more expensive than petroleum diesel fuel.

- Another biodiesel fuel disadvantage is that it can harm rubber hoses in some engines.

- Biodiesel fuel distribution infrastructure needs improvement, which is another of the disadvantages of biodiesel fuel.

- More at: Berkeley biodiesel, Bionafta

BIOMASS

Advantages

- Theoretically inexhaustible fuel source.

- When direct combustion of plant mass is not used to generate energy (i.e. fermentation, pyrolysis, etc. are used instead), there is minimal environmental impact.

- Alcohols and other fuels produced by biomass are efficient, viable, and relatively clean-burning.

- Available throughout the world.

Disadvantages

- Could contribute a great deal to global warming and particulate pollution if burned directly.

- Still an expensive energy source, both in terms of producing the biomass and converting it to alcohols.

- On a small scale, there is most likely a net loss of energy--energy must be put in to grow the plant mass.

- A biogas plant requires space and produces a dirty smell.

- Crops which are used to produce biomass energy are seasonal and are not available over the whole year.

- More at: ianswer4u.com

CRITIQUE

The first negative thing about alternative fuels such as biodiesel and biomass is the need of a large initial investment, which could be a problem for the expansion of the technology to poorer countries or regions. Therefore, there is a big need for state subsidies, but as we know, they aren’t inexhaustible and infinite. There is also a big risk that the resulting income will be much lower than the expected income due to changing market prices over time. As our guide mentioned, there is also a problem with sufficient capacity in the region needed to grow rapeseed, therefore we don’t understand why the photovoltaic panels have been built mainly on the (arable?) ground. We think that the company should, for example, try to use available space on roofs to reduce the built-on area. Also, the resources needed for the production of biodiesel are more and more limited, which leads to growth in prices of the resources and which naturally also leads to growth in the price of biodiesel. This process then disadvantages smaller manufacturers. We could of course find many other controversial aspects.

Img 4: Number and distribution of biogas plants. BIOM

The situation in Czech is not so bad. Even though the topic of green energy is not very popular in politics, according to the Biom’s map there are quite many biogas stations around the country. A positive fact is certainly that the majority of them is small-scaled so that they can use less material only from nearer distance. Furthermore Greg mentioned in his book Biodiesel: Growing a New Energy Economy that Czech “had the largest number of biodiesel production plants in the world” among only three had high production capacity . For our work is interesting that the biodiesel industry came here from better developed Austria and adopted the model of small farmers’ cooperatives.

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Second Assignment

Eisenerz, an old mining town in the center of the country, is situated in the middle of the mountains, which means that it is quite isolated and on the periphery. From the presentation about a historical evolution of the town and current situation, which led Mr. Gerfried Tiffner, was obvious that most mining towns challenge similar problems. Rich iron ore was found in Eisenerz and later on this was followed by an “iron rush”. Due to the rich iron ore it was possible to quarry in the open cast mines. This process developed into today’s face of Eisenerz with its dominating Ore Mountain. But the change is not the only one caused by mining.

During the “iron rush” in the middle of 20th century many people came here to work so that the population grew to 18 000 inhabitants. Later mining, hand in hand with employment opportunities, fell away, which caused unemployment and a huge outflow of people – today’s population is less than 6 000 and there are many abandoned houses. Therefore, the town had to deal with an aging population, unemployment and social changes. In the Czech Republic, there are also towns with a similar history; from really historical mining sites such as Příbram or Kutná Hora to present-day towns in the northwest of the country, such as Sokolov, Most or Chomutov.

Mr. Tiffner focused in his presentation on the social aspects of mining cities. He spoke about the reemergence of a traditional mining culture and its encouragement by local authorities. Traditional culture, present in the town during the last century, was lost after the fall of mining and was replaced by many social problems – the loss of traditional customs and lifestyle, [weakened connection with the surrounding, negative psychological impact – as a result many people decided to move. Local authorities observed the trend: bad English] and started to work on a new identity of the town and its inhabitants in order to attract young people but also to build a relationship between the people and the place they live.

From our own experience, Czech historical mining towns preserve the glory of a bygone era with traditional celebrations, mining museums and overall presentations (such as in Příbram or Kutná Hora). Conversely, towns with a young mining history are rather ashamed of their history and public opinion changes very slowly. On one side, destroyed regions are recultivated at great cost so that the mining companies compensate for the damage of nature resources . The recultivation of landscape has given rise to lakes, race courses or new green spaces. Even though mining companies during recultivation pay attention to diversity , there are areas without a functional ecosystem, the water ecosystem is still insufficiently restored and there is unused land due to the bad economic situation of region. What wasn't involved in the effort and which was highlighted by Mr. Tiffner was the social aspect and belonging. The industry in the region is mostly oriented toward mining, situated in centers, and middle and small-scale enterprises are missing. In comparison with Eisenerz's population, there are fewer middle aged people and education is neglected (high rate of uneducated or people with basic education only). What is well known is the fact that there is higher criminality in the region.

These days the debate about the mining limits is a hot topic – there are two reasons why the whole of the Czech Republic is interested in the limits on mining. At the end of the August the Chamber of Deputies dissolved itself because the deputies voted against the Government in a confidence motion . A date for new elections was also set: 25th – 26th October 2013. So we can definitely see the fight between the left wing and the right wing for the voters. The left wing - mostly represented in the Czech Republic by the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia and the Czech Social Democratic Party - is trying to gain new voters by promising greater social security. One of these is higher employment. If mining in Northern Bohemia stops, the number of unemployed will visibly rise.

The situation in Northern Bohemia is enshrined in legislation by the “Territorial limits of the mining of the brown coal in Northern Bohemia” which were adopted in 1991 . Now, the whole discussion about “breaking the limits” is also influenced by the situation in Northern Moravia, where the “Paskov” black coal mine is slated to close in 2014. In fact, changing the limits could be achieved by the newly elected government, but academics have already published an opinion that breaking the limits is not necessary and the social situation could be resolved by supporting other types of business that do not damage the environment, as well as human health .