the topic of energy supply was brought to our attention this winter, during the coldest days of the year to boot, when the Russian natural gas tap was closed without much advance notice. Thanks to their large (and expensive) natural gas stores, Austria’s energy suppliers were able to just avoid direct effects on the economy and households.
But it is a fact that West and South-East Europe were cut off for weeks from Russian gas supplies. This dramatic event made it clear once more that Austria depends to more than 70 % on energy imports. The saving of energy is one of the answers with which one has to meet the future supply and climate problems. The energy certification for real estate being offered by TÜV shows where energy goes up in smoke in the house and in the company. Our title story describes under what signatures energy security must be seen today and where the potentials for saving can be found.
For this edition we also invited the Managing Director of E-control GmbH, Dipl.-Ing. Walter Boltz, to write a guest commentary on the subject of energy. He demands an European energy policy which is worthy of that name. Whilst consumers in Bulgaria and Romania had to freeze in January, gas in Northern Europe was cheaper than it had been for a long time.
The brand name Tyrolit is connected with high technology in the field of grinding and cutting. The Tyrol company with more than 4,000 staff in 25 production locations has been a long-term partner and client of ours. Our company portrait delivers an insight in the world of grinding and cutting tools and of the global business.
The internationalisation of the TÜV AUSTRIA Group is progressing. A most successful example is the subsidiary TÜV AUSTRIA HELLAS Ltd. set up in 1994. A portrait of this company which serves the Greek market from permanent offices in Athens, Thessaloniki and Heraklion is meant to show that a high quality standard can in the long run stand up to cheap competition abroad.
The “Eurolab cook book”, which offers a series of proposals for solutions for various problems in the running of laboratories, is an interesting topic for operators of laboratories.
The spectrum is rounded off by some other topics, such as the presentation of the new office in Innsbruck or the TÜV Forum and the new Exner Hall in Vienna 1.
We hope you will enjoy your reading.
