Wind, pigs, biomass, and cows: a lesson in sustainability

To apply what they learned in class, a group of students from the Master in Sustainable Development, Management and Policy went on a class excursion to Lower Austria to visit a biomass heating plant, a wind turbine, and an organic farm.

The first stop, Biomasse Wolkersdorf, is one of three biomass energy plants in the Wolkersdorf region that produce electricity for water heating for around 3,000 residents in the surrounding area. The primary sources of fuel are mulched wood chips gathered from the nearby forests (not more than 25km away).  The umbrella operation, Ökoengergie, consists of 57 wind turbines, three biomass heating plants, four photovoltaic power plants, and one small hydroelectric plant, and delivers energy to over 56,000 households.

Travelling on a zero-emission electric bus, the group then visited one of the company’s wind turbines, a towering structure common on the lower Austrian countryside, which produces energy through a highly sustainable renewable power source which Lower Austria has in abundance: wind. The system kicks into action once there is enough energy to turn the massive blades, and a generator gathers the energy produced by the spinning to be transformed into electrical power, much like a dynamo on a bicycle.  

Part two of the day’s excursion took the students to a bio-farm in the small village of Aderklaa, also just north of Vienna. Biohof Harbich specializes in organic, free-range beef and pork, as well as organically grown wheat, grass, carrots, pumpkins and peas. The family-owned operation has on average 150 cows and 50 pigs, a special black-and-pink variety they call ‘’Wühlschwein’’. Every part of the animal’s life is taken care of through the farm, from raising them on nearby pastures, to slaughtering onsite, and processing the meat sold through their own small shop on Friday afternoons.  

Favored by warm weather and sunshine, the students were able to take away plenty from the day’s events. ‘’I very much appreciated the combination of the practical, real-life examples with the theory we’ve learned at the university,’’ said Sebastian Ferrari. ‘’It was also good to combine two quite different topics in one excursion, with the farming and the sustainable energy.’’

‘’It was an amazing experience for sure to be able to see the renewable energy processes and organic farming, to be on-hand to experience everything goes on and happens, and speak with experts in the field to see the challenges they go through and how they overcome them as well,’’ said Hani Aridi.

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