Dead-end Austrian town blossoms with green energy

For decades, the Austrian town of Gussing was a foreign outpost not far from the rusting barbed-wire border of the Iron Curtain.

Now it’s at the edge of a greener frontier: alternative energy. Gussing is the first community in the European Union to cut carbon emissions by more than 90 percent, helping it attract a steady stream of scientists, politicians and eco-tourists.

“This was a dead-end town and now we are the center of attention,” said Maria Hofer, a lifelong resident, as she bought organic vegetables at a farmer’s market. “It seems like every week We read about new jobs from renewable energy.”

Gussing’s transformation started 15 years ago when, struggling to pay its electricity bill, the town ordered that all public buildings would stop using fossil fuels. Since then, Gussing has fostered a whole renewable energy industry, with 50 companies creating more than 1,000 jobs and producing heat, power and fuels from the sun, sawdust, core and cooking oil.

Signs reading “Eco-Energy Land “ greet people entering the town, located 130 kilometers, or 80 miles, southeast of Vienna. Visitors are as divers as Scottish farmers, Japanese investors and a delegation from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Gussing used to rely on agriculture, with farmers selling their corn, sunflower oil and timber. As for tourism, the main attraction was a 12^th-century castle built by Hungarian nobles.

The town could hardly afford its 6 million, or $8.1 million, fuel bill when Peter Vadasz was first elected mayor in 1992.The turnaround started after he hired Rheinhard Koch, an electrical engineer and Gussing native, to assess how the town of 4,000 people could benefit from its natural resources.

1.Where is Gussing ?

  A. It is in the border of Australia.             B. It is in the center of Austrian.

  C. It is not far from the Japanese border.      D. It is in the southeast of Vienna.

2.Who does the town attract ?

  A. Scientists, eco-tourists, politicians and Japanese farmers.

  B. Scientists, politicians, eco-tourists, farmers and investors.

  C. Politicians, Scottish farmers, Japanese investors and Organization for Security

  D. Politicians, tourists, co-operation workers, and European soldiers

3.Which of the following doesn’t belong to “Eco-Energy “material ?

  A. Fossil fuels   B. The sun    C. Sawdust and corn    D. Cooking oil

4.Besides the mayor, who did great contribution to the Gussing’s transformation ?

  A. Peter Valdasz    B. European Union    C. Rheinhard       D. Maria Hofer