The taxation of environmentally harmful inputs and activities is one of the most important environment-policy instruments, which is gaining in importance also in Austria considering the current share of environment-related taxes in the total tax revenue. According to a system of classification...

International commitments constitute a considerable challenge for the climate policy pursued in Austria. In 1997, the first obligatory targets for greenhouse gas emission rates were defined by the Kyoto Protocol, and Austria, within the scope of an internal EU burden sharing agreement, agreed to...

The economic analysis of sustainable consumption structures concentrates on the extent to which it is possible and recommendable to foster substitution of flows by stocks (improving the thermal quality of buildings, more energy-efficient transport systems). Also of relevance is the role that...

The integrated approach to environmental policy resulting from the sustainable development includes an analysis of the environmental impact that even those policy tools have which are not primarily directed towards environmental protection. These include housing subsidy schemes, to which some...

Recently, several scientific investigations have been carried out in Austria on the potential of biomass as a renewable resource for the energy sector. Most of these studies look at this domestic biomass potential from a natural-science and technological perspective. In contrast to these, the...