Wood smoke curling from chimneys of an Alpine village encapsulates the picture- postcard image of an Austrian winter. But the reality is fast becoming more high-tech - sleek, smoke-free boilers burning wood pellets or other biomass fuels to heat villages, factories and urban housing, with a neutral impact on carbon emissions.

In 2003, nearly 70 per cent of Austria's domestically produced power came from renewable sources. Biomass fuelled 11.2 per cent of Austria's total primary energy supply and 21 per cent of heat production, according to International Energy Agency (IEA) statistics. Not only do forests grow back, they absorb carbon dioxide from the air as they grow.