Berglandmilch paid five million euros for the wood chip heating plant in Feldkirchen near Mattighofen. Austria’s largest dairy is not only renouncing natural gas in the Innviertel – and has taken the wrong path.
Wednesday 3 May was no ordinary working day for Josef Braunshofer. “It smokes,” Thomas Osl, head of the cheese dairy in Feldkirchen near Mattighofen, greeted Berglandmilch’s boss as he got out of the car. And his gaze immediately wandered to the part of the factory site where a wood chip heating installation had been installed in recent months. The start-up phase started on May 3 – a little later than planned.
Austria’s largest dairy has invested five million euros at its Innviertel site to reduce its dependence on natural gas, and thus on Russia, to almost zero. The change was established before the war and the associated antics in the energy market accelerated implementation.
“The way is without alternative”
“Gas prices are very volatile. Moreover, gas is a fossil and therefore not sustainable”, emphasizes Braunshofer, “there is no alternative to the path we are taking”.
Other companies are therefore equipped with wood chip heating systems: Aschbach in Lower Austria and Klagenfurt are also being converted this year, in Wörgl in Tyrol, Berglandmilch has long been on the “wooden path”.
115 tons of wood chips per week
Farmers can now not only supply milk to the dairy, but also energy through wood chips. The need is great: around 115 tons per week are needed in Feldkirchen alone.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
