Financial Incentives for Rural Biomass Energy Generation

Country	Austria
Year Implemented	1995
Policy Status	In force
Agency	•Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management •Länder
Funding	39 million euros since 1995
Related Policies	Green Electricity Act - 2006 Amendments
Policy Type	•Financial   •Funds to Sub-National Governments •Incentives/Subsidies   •Grants
Policy Target	•Bioenergy   •Biomass for Heat   •Biomass for Power
Policy Sector	•Electricity
Size of Plant Targeted	Small
Description	The Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, the Länder governments and the European Union each provide funding for rural biomass energy projects. Total public funding for these projects, including district heating from wood chips, biogas CHP and individual biomass heating systems, amounted to about 14 million € annually over the past years, involving total investments of 39 million €. In concert with the biogas feed-in tariffs, these funds fostered a growth in biogas plants' capacity by 400% in 2004 and 2005. As of May 2007, a total capacity of 71 MW had been approved, mainly in agricultural plants producing heat and electricity from methane from crops and manure.
URL	www.lebensministerium.at