38 I. RØPKE ET AL.
Peaking in 2004, the degree of self-sufficiency reached 155%, but since then
the production of oil and gas has fallen, and the degree of self-sufficiency fell
to 85% in 2017 (Energistatistik 2017).
Security of supply was the main concern in the wake of the oil crises
and encouraged conversion from oil to coal in power plants. When climate concerns later intensified, the phase-out of coal emerged on the
political agenda. Local CHP plants adopted the use of a variety of fuels
including wood pellets, waste, straw, natural gas and biogas, and more
recently, large power plants increasingly converted from coal to biomass.
Since 2000, the use of biomass has more than doubled, with imports
accounting for 43% of biomass used in 2016 (Klimarådet 2018). With
the inclusion of biomass, renewable energy constituted 33% of Danish
energy consumption in 2017, up from 6% in 1990 (Energistatistik 2017).
When corrected for trade in electricity and weather, total Danish
energy consumption was 5.7% lower in 2017 than in 1990. In terms
of Co 2 emissions, Danish emissions fell by 38% from 1990 to 2017
(Energistatistik 2017). However, the Danish Co 2 emissions per capita
are still a little above the EU average in 2016. 2 Part of the explanation
why Denmark lacks behind some rich countries, such as Sweden and the
UK, is that Denmark neither has hydropower, nor nuclear power.
Current trenDs in energy poLiCy
As the outline above illustrates, the transformations of the Danish
energy system have concentrated mainly on the supply side. But some
of the changes involved the cooperation of households, who changed
their heating installations from oil burners to district heating installations and natural gas boilers. The oil crises also led to other initiatives
on the demand side, including campaigns aimed at persuading people to
lower the temperature in dwellings and turn off lights. Subsidies were
provided for thermal insulation and double-glazing, and building regulations were tightened. Compulsory energy labelling of appliances was
introduced, and campaigns to shut off standby mode on appliances were
implemented (Christensen et al. 2007). In spite of all these initiatives,
2 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=
en&pcode=t2020_rd300&plugin=1.
Peaking in 2004, the degree of self-sufficiency reached 155%, but since then
the production of oil and gas has fallen, and the degree of self-sufficiency fell
to 85% in 2017 (Energistatistik 2017).
Security of supply was the main concern in the wake of the oil crises
and encouraged conversion from oil to coal in power plants. When climate concerns later intensified, the phase-out of coal emerged on the
political agenda. Local CHP plants adopted the use of a variety of fuels
including wood pellets, waste, straw, natural gas and biogas, and more
recently, large power plants increasingly converted from coal to biomass.
Since 2000, the use of biomass has more than doubled, with imports
accounting for 43% of biomass used in 2016 (Klimarådet 2018). With
the inclusion of biomass, renewable energy constituted 33% of Danish
energy consumption in 2017, up from 6% in 1990 (Energistatistik 2017).
When corrected for trade in electricity and weather, total Danish
energy consumption was 5.7% lower in 2017 than in 1990. In terms
of Co 2 emissions, Danish emissions fell by 38% from 1990 to 2017
(Energistatistik 2017). However, the Danish Co 2 emissions per capita
are still a little above the EU average in 2016. 2 Part of the explanation
why Denmark lacks behind some rich countries, such as Sweden and the
UK, is that Denmark neither has hydropower, nor nuclear power.
Current trenDs in energy poLiCy
As the outline above illustrates, the transformations of the Danish
energy system have concentrated mainly on the supply side. But some
of the changes involved the cooperation of households, who changed
their heating installations from oil burners to district heating installations and natural gas boilers. The oil crises also led to other initiatives
on the demand side, including campaigns aimed at persuading people to
lower the temperature in dwellings and turn off lights. Subsidies were
provided for thermal insulation and double-glazing, and building regulations were tightened. Compulsory energy labelling of appliances was
introduced, and campaigns to shut off standby mode on appliances were
implemented (Christensen et al. 2007). In spite of all these initiatives,
2 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=
en&pcode=t2020_rd300&plugin=1.