Balance sheet on subsidies
Money for unsealing is just a drop in the ocean
The state of Upper Austria supports projects for unsealing soil, such as the greening of asphalt surfaces, with around 460,000 euros through a funding program. But concrete is poured much faster.
Take Pattigham, for example: the small community in the Innviertel region tore up a 170 square meter parking lot in front of the elementary school, planted grass and transformed the area into a green space that pupils can now use during their breaks.
Funding from the state has been available for such unsealing of soil since October 2022. "The reason for the funding can be found in the hot August as well as in the coming weekend," says Climate State Councillor Stefan Kaineder (Greens) with a view to the flood forecasts. This is because unsealed soils can both cool the air and absorb water.
One square meter of healthy soil can absorb an entire bathtub full of water, that is 200 liters. Sealed soils, on the other hand, absorb no water at all.
Stefan Kaineder (Grüne), Landesrat für Umwelt und Klima
14,000 square meters are being unsealed with funding
Kaineder has now drawn up an interim balance sheet: 47 applications for funding have been submitted so far, with the state paying out a total of 460,000 euros, and around 14,000 square meters are to be unsealed in this way. Seven projects have already been fully completed and invoiced.
This means that the funded projects are ultimately just a drop in the ocean of asphalt, as it is estimated that around 8400 square meters of soil are newly sealed or built over every day in Upper Austria.
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