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Case: Danish energy sector
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CLIMATE & ENERGY
Profile Sheets: Green Denmark
Energy efficiency – do you realize the potential?
How can we fight global warming locally?
How do we fuel sustainable growth?
How stable is your energy supply?
Is clean water an issue?
Is your environment healthy?
What makes technology eco-efficient?
What’s waste worth to you?
Where does your energy come from?
Will Copenhagen still be wonderful in 2015?
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Case: Danish energy sector
Denmark has demonstrated that through a persistent and active energy policy, sustainable growth is possible. Promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy is fuelling sustainable economic growth.
Not only does Denmark have a very efficient and clean energy sector, but the technological development sparked by the active policy is contributing to a steadily increasing share of the Danish economy through investments and export. Exports of energy technologies have trebled in just 10 years. Today Denmark is a global wind power hub, housing the R&D departments of not only Vestas – the major Danish company in this field – but also foreign producers of wind turbines.
Renewable energy
Denmark is playing a pioneering role in developing renewable energy resources and technologies. Despite the lack of hydroelectric resources or strong biomass traditions, Denmark has implemented policies to build one of the biggest renewable
energy sectors in the world. Today, renewable energy sources like wind and biomass account for more than 25% of Denmark’s gross electricity consumption and 15% of overall energy consumption. The aim is to increase the latter figure to at least 30% by 2025.
Energy efficiency
Optimizing energy efficiency at every step of the value chain from production and distribution to consumption by the end-user is central to the Danish policy. A mix of measures is used to promote further efficiencies to be gained and savings earned – for companies, citizens and Denmark. The government has established stringent building and appliance codes, public service campaigns on energy use, a public sector that sets an efficiency example, high taxes on energy use and voluntary agreements on energy savings with industry based on energy audits. The low energy intensity has come from a concerted effort by the government, not from any inherent characteristic of Denmark itself.
The combined heat and power plant at Avedøre includes a straw fired biomass plant, which is powered by approximately 165,000 tons of straw per year. Foto: Dong Energy
Co-generation
A main feature of the Danish energy sector is its extensive usage of combined heat and power production. Through a targeted long-term policy, Denmark has obtained a record-breaking level of co-generation that reduces the loss of energy in power production. More than 50% of the produced power (excluding that from wind-turbines) utilizes surplus heat for district heating or industrial purposes. Just over 80% of the district heating is co-generated with power. Figure 1 shows the extreme degree of decentralizing of power production that has taken place since the 1980s.
Related article: Energy efficiency – do you realize the potential?
Energy use by households usually accounts for not only a large share of a country’s total energy consumption, but often also a significant share of energy wasted.
How do we fuel sustainable growth?
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