Austrians behind ‘record surge’ in Google searches for firewood amid energy crisis

internet searches for firewood

Image - firewood: nadia_if/shutterstock

 The sanctions against Russia and the current gas crisis are driving a record search for firewood among Austrians. In the height of summer, many people are already fearing the imminent coldness of winter.

Heating using just firewood in place of gas or oil? This idea seems to have occurred to many Austrians recently. The popular search engine google has seen record numbers of people searching for kindling, however it has proven to be not currently available in many hardware stores. 

“It won’t arrive until Autumn” hardware stores have said, despite some 200 calls a day to various firewood providers who are unable to accommodate the high demand. As well as the absence of wood from Ukraine and Russia, nor is there firewood in Hungary where they have difficulties to import it. 

Even if there are enough forests, the firewood cannot be produced that quickly. First it needs time to dry out so that it is suitable for use in fires. However, the high demand has contributed to increased prices, and along with food and gas, firewood has become even more expensive. 

The minister of Agriculture in Austria, Norbert Totschnig (OVP), has called firewood “the new toilet roll”, which was affected by shortages and increased prices during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, Totschnig has asked the population to “please behave normally. Don’t stock buy, don’t stock buy”, as reported by exxpress.at


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Image - Annie Dabb
Written by

Annie Dabb

From Newcastle originally, Annie is based in Manchester and is a writer for the Euro Weekly News covering news and features. Got a story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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