The municipality of Seibersdorf, in Lower Austria, understood the great value of switching over from fossil fuels to cleaner, more sustainable energy. They realized that potential by using local resources for the communal heat supply in a biomass installation, fuelled by woodchips, bark and straw. Unlike fossil fuels, biomass is CO2-neutral, of domestic origin, and re-uses bio-wastes for both heat and power.
The Seibersdorf project was an early pioneer in this field with the installation of a straw heating plant in 1986, as the first of its kind in Central Europe. The straw was bought from farmers in the area, pressed with a large baler, and finally used for clean, affordable heat for the local community. The straw ash produced by the combustion, is re-used once more as fertilizer for the local farmers. In 1987, Flexalen proved the most suitable choice for the installation of the district heating network, characterized by its efficiency, ease and speed of installation, and remarkable life expectancy. This has been proven in Seibersdorf because, as almost 30 years later, the network is still in headache-free operation.