Priener Hütte, owned by the German Alpine Association

For the Benefit of Sensitive Alpine Regions

  A Mountain Restaurant which doesn't
    disturb the balance of nature
  A Remote Idyll
  A Compromise: Nature and Leisure
  Renewable Rather Than Fossil Energy
  Easy Operating
  Block-Type Heating and Power Station and Wood Boiler
  Closed Circles
  Capacity

"Gastronomy and the protection of the environment no longer contradict each other". The hikers who read this sentence on the plaque at the Priener Hütte might enjoy their lunch break even more. They know that their rest within the grand scenery of the upper Bavarian mountains will not weigh on their environmental conscience.

A view of Priener Hütte

The Priener Hütte, owned by the German Alpine Association, is located 1410 m high in a nature reserve at the foot of one of the Alps, about 1 ½ hours' drive away from Munich. This remote mountaineers' lodge, close to the Austrian border, can be reached by a 2 ½ hour hike from the closest villages.

The remote idyll has its price. Since the lodge is in use all year round (5 000 overnight stays, and 20 000 guests) and is not connected to the regional energy supply system, all supplies have to be brought up here by motor vehicles via a 10 km route. This is a compromise between environmental protection and our modern leisure industry that is often made. So far, however, the disadvantages of this deal were borne by nature.

Until 1997 two diesel generators and one fuel oil burner provided the necessary energy, which was anything but an environmentally-friendly arrangement. Every year 22 000 litres of fuel oil and diesel were burnt in the middle of an ecologically highly-sensitive mountain region. Since September 1997, however, the environment has been put first again. Now the Priener Hütte is supplied with electricity and heat through two block-type thermal power stations (fuelled with vegetable oil) and one wood boiler, which provide energy from sources that are renewable and almost CO₂ neutral. Additionally, small amounts of electricity are now provided by a small water power station in the vicinity.

The heating and power stations (with sound protection removed)

The two block-type combined heating and power stations are installed in the building, which is made possible by good sound insulation. This construction provided a way of avoiding the expensive installation of a thermal conduction system; it also makes the operation and the servicing of the station easier. The driving engines of this kind of heating and power station have been adapted to run with pure vegetable oil. The generators produce rotary current for the supply of the building. A wood boiler covers peak demand; this boiler can be fuelled with logs of woods that are up to one meter long, which reduces operation requirements. The stove is fitted with a regulation system that allows for optimal combustion. Whenever there is a surplus production of heat, it can be buffered in a water storage device (capacity: 1 000 litres) and two heat accumulators (capacity: 1 500 litres).

The log wood boiler

Per year the Priener Hütte uses an average of 5 000 litres of rape seed oil and 65 stere of wood logs. Apart from small amounts of natural gas, which is used for cooking, the entire gastronomy on the Priener Hütte is run on a closed cycle of materials used and the energy used and won. Rape seed oil, once it has been harvested and pressed can be used for the production of energy without further processing. It is non-poisonous, does not contain any sulphur, and can easily be stored and transported, since its fire point lies over 200 °C. The risk of accidents is rather low: rape seed oil does not constitute a real risk of water pollution, because it degrades quickly. The residues from the process of oil extraction can easily be put back into the cycle of nature, as animal feed for example.

This project in the Bavarian Alps is part of a general operation of DAV (German Alpine Association) that shall eventually cover all of its more than 300 mountain gastronomies; all of these are located in highly sensitive, ecologically important areas and shall be switched over from environmentally hazardous diesel generators to the much more ecologically-sound supply using energy from renewable resources. In the case of Priener Hütte, the association could fall back on support from various sources. Isar-Amperwerke, the regional energy supply company, gave both non-material and financial support, and 140 000 DM were granted by the Bavarian Ministry of Agriculture, money from the funds of the Bavarian programme "Innovations for Bavaria's Future".

	electrical power	thermal power
heating and power station I	18 kWel	35 kW therm
heating and power station II	6 kW el	13 kW therm
log wood boiler	-	60 kW therm