Denmark Sees End for Fossil Fuels

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - Denmark believes that it is technically feasible to create an energy system without the need for coal- or gas-fired power stations.

The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) has published a series of energy scenario reports that tackle five possible energy routes to being able eliminate the use of fossil fuels in its energy mix by 2050. The report, entitled 'Energy Scenarios for 2020, 2035 and 2050' highlights that while the technology exists, more development is needed.

"It is possible technically to design different energy systems which all meet the vision of fossil fuel independence," the DEA stated. "The technologies already exist, although some of them need to be further developed in terms of price, efficiency and performance capability."

Renewables already supplies over 43% of the country's power and more than 25% of its total energy demand.

The additional costs of an energy supply independent of fossil fuels is estimated at between €800 million ($1.1 billion) and €3.9 billion ($5.3 billion) in 2050, depending on the choice of green energy system. The DEA explained that regardless of which scenario is chosen, a decision on which way to go will have to be picked by around 2020. The report forms part of a cross-party energy agreement in 2012, in which the DEA was to draw up five energy analyses of the electricity grid, district heating, bioenergy, biogas and the gas infrastructure. The energy scenario uses information from all of those studies.

"It will be necessary to decide whether the future energy system is to be an electricity-based wind-power system or a fuel-based biomass system," the agency said. "A wind-based fully electrified system will have good fuel supply security, but will be challenged in terms of security of electricity supply. On the other hand, a bioenergy-based system will require large imports of biomass and it will be challenged in terms of fuel supply security and sustainability."

The security of electricity supply in Denmark is among the top three in Europe, the DEA noted, with plenty of capacity at the thermal plants, a high proportion of underground cables in the distribution grid and extensive cross-border connections. The report analysing the functionality of the electricity grid shows that it will be "possible to maintain security of supply at the current level for the next 10 years without new political initiatives other than those in the 2012 energy agreement," the agency confirmed.

Biomass will play a significant role in the country's future energy mix in the energy system of the future. It expects increased use will lead to low emissions of greenhouse gases in the short to medium term but believes that continued expansion into the widespread use of biomass as an alternative fuel in thermal plants could have negative climate impacts.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and nine international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. To contact an office in your area, visit the Industrial Info "Contact Us" page.