Gussing's quiet revolution [Engineering Renewables]

IT was literally the end of the road the little Austrian village of Gussing, population 4,000, situated up against the rusted barbed wire separating Hungary from Austria the 'Iron Curtain'. In 1988, Gussing was one of the most economically depressed regions of Austria, with no through-transportation and no job base. As much as 70 per cent of its workforce had to commute out of the area to find jobs. Young people were emigrating to the metropolitan centres of Vienna or Graz. Economically, the community was almost entirely dependent upon imported energy for transportation, heating, and electrical needs, while local forest resources, comprising 45 per cent of the region, went largely unused. Today, just 20 years later, Gussing stands as a model of energy self-sufficiency for Austria, Europe and the world. This is the story of that remarkable transformation. A rags-torelative riches tale of adaptation and evolution overcoming economic hardships to the benefit of the little town of Gussing and its surrounding communities, bringing jobs and new prosperity a true Cinderella tale of great importance for the modern world as we contemplate civilisation after the age of oil and fossil fuels. Gussing produces more energy than the town consumes. It has gone from completely energy-dependent to an independent power producer in just ten years.