environmental regulations and renewable energy

Dr. Georg Zanger （乔治章格博士）
Attorney-at-law（出庭律师）and head of "zanger bewegt" （律师事务所所长）as well
as president of the Austrian Chinese Business Association（奥地利中国商务协会主席）.
（主页）www.acba.at , （电子邮箱）E-Mail: [email protected]
ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
IN AUSTRIA
As in the case with other nations in Europe, growing ecological awareness in Austria
has acted as a catalyst for the enactment of new environmental laws.
Higher funding of conventional energy by the European Union
A fact that needs to be changed is that the European Union still gives more support
for conventional energy sources than for green energy.
The European electricity sector is not driven by liberal market mechanisms, but by
subsidies. Renewable energy only receives a short part of these. The lion’s share
receive conventional energies such as coal, gas and nuclear energy. While in the
year 2011 renewable energy received 30 Billion Euro support, nuclear energy
creamed off 35 billion and fossil energy even 60 billion Euro.
Also, the European Coal Lobby has been one of the major beneficiaries of the
energy policy measures of the European Union. At the beginning, the plan of the
European Union was to reduce the operation of high emission power plants. That
means that the companies would have had to pay for the pollution that they
produce. At the end the project didn’t work out and now these high emission power
plants are running at full capacity.
As long as these distortions exist, it will be difficult to give strong incentives to the
European countries to focus more in renewable energy.
Austria‘s 2020 Targets:
In contrast, Austria is paying special attention to improve the environmental policy.
Austria’s targets until 2020 are to have a 34 % share of renewable energy and to
reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by 16 %.
In this sense, legal, economic and ecological actions are required to achieve these
goals.
Renewable Energy
Renewable energies such as biomass, hydropower, solar energy, photovoltaic
energy and wind power are crucial to ensure sustainable supply that does not harm
the environment. Over a quarter of Austria’s total power consumption comes from
renewable energy sources, making Austria one of the best on the global stage.
The knowhow of Austrian companies, their expertise and their technological
leadership all enjoy high international demand. What is more, the market for
sustainable power from renewable energies is growing steadily.
Austria relies on exports in light of the fact that Austrian know-how is in demand,
especially in its target markets such as Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and
Slovenia.

Tops in hydropower
Austria’s most important energy source is hydropower.
Austria is in the top ranks internationally, with hydropower generating about 60
percent of its electricity compared to the global average of 16 percent.

Booming biomass
According to the Austrian Biomass Association, about 60 percent of Austria’s gross
domestic consumption of renewable energy was derived from biomass, of which the
biggest part is used for generating heat.

Dynamic solar industry
Austria is one of the European leaders in producing solar thermal power.
Austria is increasingly relying on the power of the sun. Within a period of only eight
years the annual production of solar collectors in Austria increased almost four times
over.
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
Strong upwind
Global wind power capacity is expected to double in the upcoming years
according to a prediction made by the Global Wind Energy Council. In Austria wind
power already accounts for the biggest share of subsidized green electricity.
First electricity self-sufficient region in Europe
The region of Burgenland in Austria has been self-sufficient in wind energy since the
middle of 2013. Burgenland became the first region in Europe to cover its electricity
needs with renewable energy sources, including wind, solar power and biomass.
High rate of funding
The new Green Electricity Act 2012 increases the funding volume to about EUR 50
million, thus serving as a further incentive to further expand the number of facilities
producing green electricity.
Support
In Austria, electricity from renewable sources is mainly supported through a feed-in
tariff. The responsible authority is obliged to buy the electricity and pay a feed-in
tariff.
Furthermore, the construction of Photovoltaic installations on buildings and small or
medium-sized hydro-electric power stations is supported through subsidies.
Environmental Permits
Permit issuance is the central way by which the authorities ensure compliance with
environmental regulations.
Permit requirements are contained in nearly all environmental statutes, including the
Federal Act on Environmental Impact assessment (UVP-G) and the Trade Code
(Gewerbeordnung), the Water Act (Wasserrechtsgesetz) as well as the Air Pollution
Impact Act (Immissionsgesetz – Luft).
Trade Code
The Trade Code regulates different parts of the Austrian industry. One part of the
regulations concerns the environment.
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According to the Trade Code, plants that could produce emissions such as gas,
noise and smell require a permit that is only granted after professional inspection.
These regulations guarantee that no plant is built that enables the leakage of
hazardous substances. Especially regarding hazardous waste and petroleum
substances the plants are inspected very strictly.
Federal Act on Environmental Impact Assessment (UVP-G)
According to the Federal Act on Environmental Impact Assessment, for certain
projects, the applicant has to file an environmental impact statement which purpose
is to identify, describe and assess the effects that the project will or may have on the
environment.
Liability under criminal law
The Austrian Criminal Code provides that the following activities may rise to criminal
liability:
-
Contamination of water, air or soil
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The environmentally dangerous operation of a facility
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The environmentally dangerous operation of the disposal waste; and
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The causing severe noise nuisance
Criminal acts under these provisions are, for instance, air pollution which is a threat to
life, animal or plants; the pollution of natural waters, waste disposal that endangers
the environment; and the unauthorized operation of plants that are potentially
damaging the environment.
Causing these circumstances generally may trigger criminal liability if two basic
elements are present: the person acted negligently or intentionally; and the action
causing the circumstances was in violation of law or an administrative order.
Further the Act on Corporate Criminal Liability (Verbandsverantwortlichkeitsgesetz)
provides for the first time for criminal liability that can be imposed on corporations.
Liability according to administrative law
A breach of environmental laws or permits constitutes an administrative offence.
Administrative offences may be prosecuted in case of intent as well as in the case of
negligence. For example, administrative fines can be imposed.
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Most administrative environmental laws contain provisions that oblige the person
who has breached the law or permit to restore the lawful situation that existed
before the breach.
Finally, the Federal Act on environmental liability and the corresponding acts of most
of Austrian provinces (Umwelthaftungsgesetze) apply to specific environmental
damage whenever an operator has been at fault or negligent. Where environmental
damage has occurred the operator has to inform the competent authority and take
all steps to limit or prevent further environmental damage and adverse effects on
human health.
Contaminated Land
The Water act, the Trade Code and the Waste Management Act contain provisions
which form the basis of an obligation to clean up a site.
If any person causes or threatens to cause water contaminations, that person must
undertake all necessary steps to prevent contamination and must also immediately
notify the relevant authorities. If the responsible person does not undertake these
steps and the water authority performs the necessary clean up activity itself, the
water authority is authorized to recover its costs from the person causing the
contamination.
Air pollution
Remarkable is a recent ruling of the Austrian Highest Administrative Court that grants
access to justice in cases concerning air pollution.
The court ruled in favour of a couple, demanding additional action to be taken
against air pollution in a city of Austria. The court found, that they have legal
standing and a right to ask for such measures in accordance with rulings of the
European Court of Justice.
Possibilities for developing countries
The industrialization of the developing world is creating high pollution levels.
Moreover, the impact of pollution is more severe in developing countries.
Developed countries have the resources and technologies to combat pollution. Due
to the health risks and the potential impact of climate change, there have been
efforts to reduce pollution. This may be easy for developed countries, but stopping
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environmental pollution may undermine economic growth and competitiveness of
developing countries whose economies depend on natural resources.
At a certain point, countries need to make a choice between often conflicting
goals. Developing countries need to ensure energy for everyone at a competitive
price to achieve and sustain economic growth and poverty reduction. In their desire
to improve the standards of living, these countries have to rely on cheap energy. This
may lead to environmental pollution.
In conclusion, developing countries in their quest for economic development and
poverty reduction are expected to put economic growth, energy for all and
industrialization as a priority of their goals before giving consideration to
environmental issues. Therefore, developing countries will require economic,
technical and financial support from developed countries to compensate for the
economic losses associated with the reduction of pollution.
I hope you enjoyed my presentation, thank you for your attention!
Sources:
Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth (www.bmwfw.gv.at);
Invest in Austria, “Austria, strong location for Environmental Technologies and
Renewable Energies”;
Article
by
Stefan Moidl
in Standard, 6.8.2015,
“Wie
sich
mehr
Wind
für
Alternativenergie machen lässt”;
Article by Oluwasola Omoju in Breaking Energy, “Environmental Pollution is Inevitable
in Developing Countries” (www.breakingenergy.com);
Article by Stephan Denk, ICLG to Environmental Law 2010 (www.iclg.co.uk)
www.oekobuero.at
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