Last but not least, the Ukraine crisis should persuade those responsible to increase the proportion of renewable energies in heating. “We can make ourselves independent of gas supplies from Russia and relieve the climate balance,” it said. In the study “How Austria’s provincial capitals heat” Global 2000 examined the heating supply of the Austrian provincial capitals.

“Cities play a key role in climate protection. Almost two thirds of the Austrian population lives in cities or urban areas. we see that the heat supply there is seriously harmful to the climate and too little is being done to change that,” said Johannes Wahlmüller, climate and energy spokesman for Global 2000 at a press conference on Wednesday.

Natural gas for cities central

The study shows that the heating supply of the Austrian provincial capitals is still very much influenced by fossil fuels, with natural gas playing the main role. “The proportion is particularly high in Vienna and Bregenz, where 57 and 75 percent of household heating requirements are covered by natural gas.

In Salzburg and Innsbruck the proportion is around 30 percent and in Eisenstadt 64 percent,” says Wahlmüller. In Innsbruck (43 percent), Klagenfurt (43 percent), Salzburg (18 percent) and Bregenz (15 percent), heating oil makes up a large proportion of household heat requirements.

District heating also still has a high proportion of fossil energy, although natural gas continues to play a key role here. Vienna (65 percent), Graz (78 percent), Salzburg (71 percent) and Linz (51 percent) have particularly high shares. The NGO called for a trend reversal: Instead of fossil energy sources, more climate-friendly technologies such as heat pumps, solar energy, geothermal energy and the use of waste heat from industrial plants should be used.

NGO criticizes the climate targets of most state capitals

Global 2000 also criticized the fact that only a few state capitals are pursuing ambitious climate targets. “It is positive that Vienna and Klagenfurt want to be free of fossil energy by 2040. Similar goals are currently being discussed in Graz and Linz. Innsbruck will only reach 100 percent renewable energy ten years later,” says Wahlmüller. However, St. Pölten, Bregenz and Eisenstadt have not defined a target as of when the city’s entire heat supply should be free of fossil energy.

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However, the NGO sees not only the states, but also the federal government as having an obligation to support the energy transition in the heating sector accordingly. Clear specifications from the federal states for phasing out oil and gas heating in building law, attractive long-term funding programs and federal legal framework conditions in a Renewable Heat Act, which clearly regulates the phasing out of oil and gas heating, are therefore “essential building blocks for a successful climate policy”.

“It is now necessary for everyone to pull together so that we can master this challenge. We can thus make ourselves independent of gas supplies from Russia, create sustainable jobs and reduce the burden on the climate balance,” says Wahlmüller.