Environmental impact of artificial snowmaking has been evaluated for the first time in national study.
Environmental impact of artificial snowmaking has been evaluated for the first time in national study. Researchers from the Universities of Innsbruck and Waterloo have studied the environmental impact of artificial snowmaking and its effect on the sustainability of ski tourism with Canada as an example. High water and energy consumption and the associated CO2 emissions are a burden on the environmental balance sheet; energy from renewable sources can make winter sports considerably more sustainable. Natural snowfall is increasingly lacking during winter, even in alpine regions. Geographer and economist Robert Steiger from the Department of Economics at the University of Innsbruck, together with Canadian researchers, has investigated whether snowmaking is a maladaptation in terms of resource consumption and CO2 emissions. "Sustainability of ski tourism is highly dependent on resource consumption and emissions," says Robert Steiger. "We studied water and energy consumption and the resulting CO2 emissions of the ski industry in Canada.
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