2023-07-08 10:00:29
Largest high alpine moor area in acute danger – environmental organizations are demanding that the Tyrolean state government place the high valley under protection and use alternative energy sources
Innsbruck/Pfunds (OTS) – “Platzertal stays!” is written on the 50-meter-long banner that stretches across the high valley in the Ötztal Alps in Tyrol: Activists from “Liveable Kaunertal”, “WET – White Water Preservation Tyrol” and River Collective as well as GLOBAL 2000 and WWF broke into the Platzertal today to protest against Tiwag’s adherence to its expansion plans for the Kaunertal power plant: According to this, a 120-meter dam is to be built in the middle of the untouched Platzertal and the high valley and its moorland area are to be flooded for a pumped storage power plant. “This large-scale construction project at 2,350 meters above sea level is completely outdated, massively destructive to nature and so not necessary in terms of energy. The state government should finally pull the emergency brake before even more time and money are wasted,” says water expert Bettina Urbanek from WWF Austria. All organizations involved in the protest are calling for the final stop of the project, the designation of the Platzertal as a nature reserve and a nature-friendly energy transition in Tyrol.
Think energy transition and climate protection together
In the Platzertal lies the largest and almost untouched high-alpine moor and wetland complex in Austria – its area extends over more than 20 hectares. Viktoria Auer, climate and energy spokeswoman for GLOBAL 2000, knows that these intact islands of nature are essential in the climate crisis: “Energy transition and climate protection should finally be thought of together. To do this, we must protect all intact moors without exception, such as that in the Platzertal, because they Storing CO2 from the air. Today we are calling on the Tyrolean state government and Tiwag to finally focus on sustainable solutions. The people in Tyrol deserve an energy supply that protects their nature, is climate-friendly and affordable,” demands Viktoria Auer.
Pump storage is built differently today
The current state of the art in pumped storage power plants is the connection of two existing reservoirs – without taking up additional space. Also is loud Analysis by energy expert Jürgen Neubarth the new construction of a pumped storage facility in the Platzertal is superfluous in this form in terms of energy economy. “The fairy tale that there is no alternative to the construction of pumped storage projects that are destructive to nature is only intended to conceal the outdated planning of Tiwag. The way out of the crisis is clear: today, storage systems must be environmentally friendly, the actual storage requirements must be determined and the expansion of the power grids, including consumption management, must be pushed ahead. The planned pump storage in the Platzertal does not fulfill all of this,” says Bettina Urbanek, water expert at WWF Austria.
The demand for an immediate project stop is 35 organisations, NGOs and associations as well as 12 scientists carried. As of July 8, more than 24,000 people signed the “Stop Kaunertal Expansion” petition.
Link to the petition (GLOBAL 2000)
Link to the petition (WWF)
Moore and climate protection
Intact moors are essential for climate protection because they absorb carbon dioxide like a large sponge and store it in the long term in the form of peat. They are one of the most important and valuable CO2 sinks we have. Moors also play an important role in storing water and as a habitat for rare animal and plant species. All intact moors must therefore be protected and damaged moors restored.
More and more intact moor areas are being lost, primarily due to hydroelectric power and tourism projects: only 10 percent of the former moors in Austria are already preserved, of which only 10 percent are intact – like the one in the Platzertal. The WWF is therefore committed to the preservation of all valuable moor areas and, together with representatives from science and the “IG Moorschutz”, has also applied for the designation of the moor landscape in the Platzertal as a nature reserve.
There are photos and videos of the protest action in the Platzertal for free use here.
Questions & contact:
Mathias Kautzky, spokesman for WWF Austria
Phone: +43 676 83 488 287, eMail: [email protected]
1688863898
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