The car summit initiated by Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) will deal with the future of the car industry in Austria today. Representatives from science and industry are invited. One of the topics will be the financing of research on e-fuels. Criticism was voiced even before the talks.
During a Tuesday afternoon visit to the BMW plant in Steyr in Upper Austria, where production for electric motors is currently being set up, Nehammer was open to technology. Research and development should not be characterized by “either/or, but both/and” for electric, hydrogen and e-fuels.
Criticism of the summit was expressed in the run-up to FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, SPÖ environmental spokeswoman Julia Herr, NEOS spokesman for economics Gerald Loacker, Upper Austria’s environmental councilor Stefan Kaineder (Greens), the green economy and the environmental protection organizations Global 2000 and Greenpeace. The activists of the “Last Generation” and Fridays For Future Austria announced actions on the occasion of the car summit.
WU environmental economist Sigrid Stagl and Günther Lichtblau from the Federal Environment Agency expressed skepticism about e-fuels on ORF. The Scientists for Future, in turn, referred to the “catastrophic energy balance” of e-fuels. However, support came from the Federation of Industrialists (IV) and the Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ).
