In the 1970s, Denmark was addicted to oil, burning petroleum not only to power its cars but also to generate electricity. More than forty years later, the country is rapidly gaining on a mid-century goal of being fossil fuel-free, thanks partly to a policy that gives Danish citizens the legal right to own a stake in wind farms. More than 40% of the country is now powered by wind, up from less than 25% a few years ago, and compared to only 5% in the United States. link Wind power produced the equivalent of 33% of Denmark’s total electricity consumption in 2013, 39% in 2014 and 42.1% in 2015. In 2012 the Danish government adopted a plan to increase the share of electricity production from wind to 50% by 2020, and to 84% in 2035.
At the time of the first oil crisis in 1973, Denmark’s oil imports supplied 92% of its energy while the degree of energy self-sufficiency was only about 2%. By introducing carbon taxes which progressively pushed the price of petrol (gas) to become the most expensive in Europe. Denmark now has zero imports from the Middle East. Denmark was a pioneer in developing commercial wind power during the 1970s, and today a substantial share of the wind turbines around the world are produced by Danish manufacturers. The Horns Rev system of 80 wind turbines in the North Sea is the biggest off-shore wind farm in the world and generates enough power to supply 150,000 homes, which is more than the 300 wind turbines on-shore. On windy days it exports power to Germany, Sweden and Norway, and on days with insufficient wind, imports from those neighbors. July 2011: Denmark’s road map for fossil fuel independence – link
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Below:
- Ambitious goals
- Wind energy/Solar energy
- Renewable energy
- Other news
Ambitious goals
February 2014: Denmark sets more ambitious climate goals than all of Europe. Agreement in Denmark’s parliament has cleared the way for passage of climate targets that would outstrip the recent goals set by the European Union. The bill would establish a legally binding requirement that Denmark cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 1990′s levels by 2020, and that the government returns to the question every five years to set new 10-year targets. The legislation would also establish a Climate Council, modeled on a similar body in Britain, to advise the government on the best ways to continue reducing Denmark’s reliance on fossil fuels. Denmark’s present and former governments have already committed the country to a goal of 100% renewable energy generation by 2050. Meanwhile, Denmark has already been making substantial progress on the climate front. Responding to Climate Change pulled from the Danish Energy Agency, renewable energy accounted for 43.1% of Denmark’s domestic electricity supply in 2012, and for 25.8% of all energy consumption in the country that year. Renewables provided 23.1% of the electricity Denmark consumed in 2011. link
March 2017: Denmark is considering proposals to introduce a tax on red meat. Claiming “climate change is an ethical problem” the Danish Council of Ethics is recommending that the country impose a tax on meat to fight global warming. The proposal will now be considered by the Danish government. link
| December 2009: Thomas Friedman (NYT) explains why Danish politicians and business leaders have accepted high energy taxes to do the right things – while keeping their unemployment rate down to 4%. With only five million people, Denmark boasts some of the leading wind, biofuel and heating, cooling and efficiency companies in the world. Energy technologies are now 11% of Denmark’s exports |
October 2013: Denmark to cut energy use by 12%. Energy consumption in Denmark has been pretty much flat since 1970, whereas in the U.S., consumption has increased about 70%. U.S. utilities have counted on revenue growth from climbing consumption, making them more likely to resist a slowdown or reversal of that trend. In Denmark, regulation often takes place through negotiations between government and industry, with a mutually agreed-upon consensus as a result. The 2012 agreement is expected to cut 2020 energy use to 12% below 2006 levels. A key difference is that Denmark’s agreement simply sets conservation requirements and lets companies determine the most cost-effective way to reach them, whether it’s handing out energy-efficient light bulbs or helping with insulation installation. And these efforts are cost-neutral for the companies. They have to meet efficiency requirements, and whatever they spend making it happen can be recovered by passing on the costs to consumers. The very structure of Danish utilities makes things easier. Distribution companies, the ones that are required to promote efficiency, are separate from production companies, the ones that stand to lose out the most if efficiency increases. That also results in distribution companies forming “sister companies” that profit from providing energy savings services. link
Wind Energy
Denmark’s Wind of Change – Time magazine (February 2009) read
November 2016: World’s cheapest offshore wind farm to power 600,000 homes. The Kriegers Flak is set for operations by 2022 and will be Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm. The farm will be able to supply 600,000 households or 23% of all Danish households. Denmark goal is to get 50% of its power from renewables by 2020. The nation plans to ditch fossil fuels entirely by 2050. link
January 2016: Denmark sets new record for wind energy. Danish wind turbines set a new world record in 2015. Wind power is now counted for 42.1% of the total electricity consumption in Denmark. link
January 2015: Denmark sets world record in wind energy. In 2014, wind-generated energy made up 39.1% of Denmark’s overall electricity consumption which makes the country the world’s leading nation in wind-based power usage. This is an increase from 18.8% since 2004. link
July 2014: Onshore wind power is now cheapest form of energy in Denmark. A new analysis from the government of Denmark found that wind power is by far the cheapest new form of electricity in the country. New onshore wind plants coming online in 2016 will provide energy for about half the price of coal and natural gas plants. link
August 2012: Embracing wind: Denmark’s recipe for a model democracy. It’s estimated that some 50,000 wind turbines have been exported from Denmark, nearly 50% of the wind-powered generators worldwide. But sales are declining now that large industrialized nations, such as India, China and the US, are emulating the Danes’ success. In addition to the graceful, towering turbines made of fiberglass and steel, however, Denmark has also given the world a shining example of sustainability: The parliamentary monarchy is widely seen as a laboratory and model for how an entire country can make the transition away from coal, oil and gas and toward energy generated from renewable resources. Hailed as a “miracle of modern politics,” Denmark consistently earns top marks for its efficient governance, innovation and transparency. Nowhere is this more apparent than with its successful embrace of wind power, making it a role model for the world. link (Photograph: Alamy)
August 2010: Thirty kilometers off the west coast of Denmark. 91 turbines with a capacity of 209MW were deployed since September 2009 in the Horns Rev 2 wind farm. These supplement Horns Rev 1 established in 2002 with 80 turbines producing 160MW. Nine out of ten Danes cite wind power as the main priority for developing renewable energies. In 2010 sales of wind technology will represent more than 10% of Denmark’s exports. link
Solar Power. In 2012 Denmark had just 104GWh electricity generation. By 2014 this had risen to 597GWh.The large increase in solar deployment was aided by incentives including tax credits and net settlement for produced power. Installed capacity of solar PV is predicted to rise to 1,140MW by 2024 and provide an estimated 3% of electricity consumption in Denmark. link
Renewable Energy
January 2018: Denmark on track to have 50% renewable energy by 2030. Wind power generated 43.4% of electricity consumed in Denmark in 2017, a new record for the Nordic nation which aims to rely on renewables for half of its energy needs by 2030. The nation imports its additional electricity needs from Norway (hydropower), Sweden (nuclear power) and Germany (solar). link
November 2014: Denmark aims for 100% renewable energy. Denmark is pursuing the world’s most ambitious policy against climate change aiming to end the burning of fossil fuels in any form by 2050, not just in electricity production, as some other countries hope to do, but in transportation as well. Denmark is above 40% renewable power today on their electric grid, aiming toward 50% by 2020. link
June 2014 Denmark to launch $1 billion green energy fund. Denmark will establish a nearly $1 billion green fund to attract private capital to reducing energy consumption, fund renewable energy projects and provide a boost to the nation’s job sector, the country’s finance minister Bjarne Corydon. link
March 2012: Denmark – 100% renewables goal by 2050 – link
December 2010: Denmark boasts a 100% renewable energy community. The Lolland Hydrogen Community generates 50% more wind energy than needed, and converts the excess to produce hydrogen. Called the Lolland Hydrogen Community, the project began in the middle of 2007 as a way of taking the excess wind energy produced by the island community and putting it to use. The wind energy that was being produced in excess was used to power an electrolyser that worked to separate the oxygen and hydrogen molecules that comprised water. Once the hydrogen is separated it is stored in pressure tanks and it is then used to power fuel cells that provide the community with electricity. Although powering the community’s power grid with the hydrogen fuel cells proved to be a success the Lolland Hydrogen Community knew they could take the renewable energy a step forward. To achieve this end, the researchers on the community developed smaller hydrogen fuel cells that could be placed in a home and act similar to a boiler in order to provide heating, air, and energy. link
Other news
Electric cars.
June 2017: Denmark extends tax break through 2022. Denmark has seen a staggering drop in the sale of electric vehicles in the past 18 months. EV sales plummeted 60.5% in the first quarter of 2017, compared with the first three months of the previous year in stark contrast to neighboring Sweden, where sales have grown 80% in the same period. Much of the sales drop can be assigned to the Danish government’s tax policy of phasing out EV tax breaks by 2020. The gradual phase-out of subsidies – originally scheduled for 2020 – was intended to prove that the environmental benefits of EV’s would be attractive enough on their own. That assumption proved wrong. The Danish government has now taken note of the uncertainty caused by the policy and proposed a new plan whereby the tax breaks are re-introduced until 5000 new EV-vehicles have been sold between 2016-2018. A new spike in sales is thus expected, as car dealers can sell their vehicles at 2015 prices again. But regardless of sales numbers, the government is still going ahead with the subsidy phase-out. It has just pushed backed the timeline with two years, until 2022. link
January 2017: Denmark’s best-selling car is a Tesla. In December, the Tesla model S not only outsold every other electric car in Denmark but every single model of gas or hybrid car. Car buyers were taking advantage of tax breaks before the end of the year. link
October 2015: Denmark’s latest policy u-turn bad news for electric cars. Denmark, once a leader in policies aimed at combatting climate change, is pulling back from some of its most ambitious initiatives. In a new decision, the government may end its generous tax breaks for citizens who buy low-carbon vehicles, tripling the retail price of some electric cars. The price of a Tesla Model S would soar from about $97,665 to $270,000 after the change. This will surely affect sales of electric cars, which have doubled in Denmark since one year ago, and deal a huge blow to manufacturers like Tesla. link
November 2015: Explained: Denmark’s crazy car registration tax – link