Reason for hope: climate targets are achievable

Climate neutrality by 2040 is not a utopian dream - according to a project by top-class researchers, it is achievable. Of course, this will only be possible with intensive cooperation between industry, politics and the general public - after all, the issue affects us like never before.

In the NetZero2040 project, researchers from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, the Austrian Energy Agency (AEA) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) have developed four cost-efficient scenarios that could actually make it possible.

It is therefore entirely possible for Austria to stop emitting climate-damaging greenhouse gases by 2040.

What all four scenarios have in common is the rapid expansion of renewable energies, electrification of mobility and heat supply as well as extensive efficiency measures.

According to researchers, the expansion of renewables in particular requires an accelerated expansion of wind power by 2030.

This means that it would have to happen 60 percent faster than envisaged in the Renewable Energies Expansion Act (EAG).

Energy and behavior

The phase-out of fossil fuels in mobility and heating must be completed as quickly as possible

Conclusion: heat pump instead of gas boiler, electric mobility instead of combustion engine.

The background to this is the reduction of fossil energy consumption.

Another lever is building refurbishment.

The most difficult point is certainly the change in behavior, because reducing living space and driving less are not prospects that people like to face.

The aim here would be to reduce energy consumption by up to 20 percent in order to reduce the need for energy imports from abroad.

Fossil infrastructure is also to be dismantled.

Here, of course, the responsibility lies with politicians, and we should bear this in mind when we go to the ballot box.

Synthetic gases?

The Renewable Heat Act states that gas heating systems are only banned in new buildings, but can still be installed in existing buildings.

From 2040, the use of synthetic gases in households would therefore certainly be necessary.

However, the production of these is energy-intensive and therefore expensive.

This solution is also questionable from a social point of view, because the infrastructure would actually have to be maintained. The costs for this would be borne by the gas customers.

"Overall, our study shows encouraging results," summarized Hermine Mitter from BOKU. "Achieving the climate neutrality target is entirely realistic."

In all these scenarios, however, one thing is clear: we cannot sit back and wait for the change to work automatically on the outside.

It must be a personal concern for us, because with the big rethink we are doing no one a favor but ourselves.