AshTreaT - Wood ash utilisation in alpine forests
Funding:
This project is being carried out in cooperation with the "alpS - Centre for Climate Change Adaptation" and is funded by the COMET programme of the BMVIT (Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology) and the BMWFJ (Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth), which is managed and implemented by the FFG (Austrian Research Promotion Agency). In addition, the federal states of Tyrol and Vorarlberg are supporting this project with state co-financing.
Funding period: 04/2012 - 03/2014
Content:
The new "Guideline for the proper use of plant ash for utilisation on agricultural and forestry land" sets out the relevant requirements for the next few years for the utilisation of wood ash on agricultural and forestry land.
The AshTreaT project is investigating the application potential of untreated wood ash in alpine forests and aims to close the nutrient and utilisation cycle by returning the resulting wood ash to the forest. The aim is to develop and evaluate a regionally realisable plant ash utilisation concept that offers a practicable and economical utilisation option for wood ash. To this end, a tried-and-tested application method for a newly developed soil melioration product made from wood ash is being tested.
The Institute of Environmental Technology is carrying out a holistic assessment of the utilisation of wood ash, from the production of the wood ash product to its application in the forest and the associated environmental impact.
Project partner:
- alpS - Centre for Natural Hazard and Risk Management GmbH),
- University of Innsbruck, Institute for Microbiology,
- Biomasse Wärmeversorgung Rankweil GmbH; DAKA Entsorgungsunternehmen GmbH & Co.KG;
- Nahwärme Götzis GmbH;
- Naturwärme-montafon biomasse-heizkraftwerk gmbH;
- Tiroler Wasserkraft AG;
- Vorarlberger Illwerke AG
Contact:
University of Innsbruck
Univ-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Anke Bockreis
Technikerstrasse 13
6020 Innsbruck
waste@uibk.ac.at