Lift Co’s Want To Make Carinthia A Flagship For Sustainable Winter Tourism
The Carinthian cable car industry has been using green energy and working on energy efficiency for decades. Now the path to sustainable winter tourism should be continued even more strategically. The basis for this is a guide that shows the status quo, opportunities and potential in energy, biodiversity and mobility.
100 percent green electricity. 20 percent savings in energy consumption over the past ten years. Economical use of resources and modern snow management. The Carinthian cable car industry can already demonstrate a lot when it comes to sustainability. But it shouldn't stay that way. “We are already at a good level, but we want to get even better,” says Manuel Kapeller-Hopfgartner, chairman of the WK-Kärnten cable car specialist group. As to how things should continue to be sustainable, cable car companies from all over the country have been involved in a guided process for a year and have worked together to develop an almost hundred-page “Guideline for Sustainability”. The working paper was created under the leadership of Gerald Hackl from Trigon Development Consulting and Jürgen Petutschnig from the Environmental Office. The focus was on the three main areas of energy, biodiversity and mobility. “The result is extensive and will serve the industry as a working paper for further developments and investments in the future. In order for us to be able to implement these accordingly, politicians also need to set the appropriate course,” emphasizes the industry spokesman.
Taking a sustainable path together
Chamber of Commerce President Jürgen Mandl and State Councilor Sebastian Schuschnig have joined forces in this regard. “The cable cars are important partners for sustainable and energy self-sufficient winter tourism. We want to shape the future now and cannot wait forever for approvals or implementation,” said President Mandl. Schuschnig described the cable car industry guidelines as the right step, the implementation of which he would now support: “The cable cars are not only an extremely important factor for Carinthian winter tourism and a value-added multiplier. With the new guidelines, they also show that they are ready to be pioneers in investing in energy independence.” Schuschnig is convinced that the Carinthian cable car industry is on the right path and wants to work together to promote the implementation of flagship projects. “We have to accelerate the expansion of renewable energy in all forms. More electricity must be produced and consumed locally without causing immense additional strain on the networks. Especially in areas where other infrastructure already exists, more must be possible when expanding renewables.”
Ideas for sustainability are waiting to be implemented
Gerald Hackl from Trigon Development Consulting hopes that the sustainability guidelines will be a booster for the cable car industry. The various best practice examples provide inspiration for this. “We know that, for example, two thirds of CO2 emissions during winter holidays occur when traveling to and from the ski area. Only a third is generated directly by the cable cars. Mobility solutions can be a strong lever here, but the cable cars will not be able to solve the issue alone,” says Jürgen Petutschnig from the Environmental Office. In other areas, the implementation of sustainable measures is easier: biodiversity could, for example, be promoted more by using the ski slopes for hay or the production of seeds.
In the energy sector, even more possibilities could be exploited with appropriate framework conditions: energy peaks can be cushioned by generating your own electricity, technical snowmaking can be optimized through the design of the slopes and weather monitoring, and buildings and open spaces can be used to generate renewable energy. Generating electricity would even be possible with existing storage ponds. “Wind energy has great potential. Because we must not forget that the relevant infrastructure already exists around the cable car,” explains Petutschnig. Kapeller-Hopfgartner said: “The willingness among cable car companies to continue working on the implementation of sustainable measures is great. We want to make Carinthia a flagship for sustainable winter tourism.”
