Since 2015, the consulting firm Deloitte has been conducting a study on renewable energies in Austria together with the Vienna University of Economics and Business and Wien Energie. 1,104 Austrians were surveyed in late autumn 2023: The current results show that climate protection measures have become less important in view of the inflation crisis.
In contrast to previous years, interest in buying an electric car has decreased, from 43 to 38 percent. The decline is particularly strong in the group of people under 40. The high acquisition costs and the limited range were cited by more than 80 percent of those surveyed as reasons. Three quarters have no opportunity to charge an electric car where they live. “The survey clearly shows that public funding has a positive effect on purchasing decisions. This is a central lever for driving forward the expansion of sustainable mobility in Austria – and should definitely be maintained,” says Gerhard Marterbauer, partner at Deloitte Austria.
The general sentiment for larger renewable energy projects – photovoltaics, wind power and small hydropower – has declined in 2023. The number of respondents who support a wind power project in their community or near them fell from 69 percent to 63 percent. “We see that the approval ratings for wind power projects in our own area have fallen to less than two thirds. And photovoltaics, which are actually very popular, also achieved the lowest acceptance level since the start of the series of studies at 83% – that is a worrying result,” says study author Nina Hampl, from the Vienna University of Economics and Business.
23 percent of those surveyed stated that there is a PV system on their house or residential building, and around a third also have an electricity storage system. The PV boom of the past few years was clear: more than half of all systems were built in the last two years. Due to inflation, a third of those surveyed cannot even imagine investing in a PV system until next year.
Saving energy because of inflation
While in 2022 66 percent were in favor of total electricity consumption being covered by 100 percent renewable energy sources by 2030, the figure is currently only 55 percent. And only a third of those surveyed are in favor of a general ban on gas heating from 2040 or oil heating from 2035. “Austrians are increasingly less willing to accept personal changes for the energy transition. Two thirds are therefore of the opinion that more emphasis should be placed on incentives instead of bans,” says Hampl.
The motivation for behavioral changes was not necessarily the environmental aspect, but rather the increase in energy costs: in order to save money, around half of those surveyed reduced their electricity consumption, and 40 percent lowered their room temperature. 14 percent – almost three times as many as in 2022 – have changed electricity providers.
Support for energy and climate policy measures has continued to decline; the CO2 tax is only supported by 28 percent of those surveyed. Only just under one in two people agree with the goal of Austria becoming climate neutral by 2040; in 2022 it was still 60 percent. Nevertheless, Austrians see climate change as the most important problem in the next two decades. A third are of the opinion that the effects for Austria will be neither positive nor negative.
Read here:
Author
Verena Mitterlechner
Verena Mitterlechner
