DENMARK

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 and supplies 20% of its energy needs from wind power. More than half of this is exported - so it only actually uses nine percent of the wind energy it generates. If the Danes couldn't do this, their system wouldn't work. Its 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, 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.

Denmark's energy consumption - the amount of fuel it uses to heat its buildings, drive its cars and power its economy - has held stable for more than 30 years, even as the country's gross domestic product has doubled, according to the International Energy Agency, a Paris group that tracks energy prices and policies. During the same period, energy consumption in the U.S. has risen 40%, while its GDP has quadrupled. The average Dane uses 6,600 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, compared with 13,300 for the average American. Between 1996 and 2006, Denmark reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 19%.

In 1976, a government led by the Social Democratic Party laid out a series of ambitious energy plans, including developing renewable energy from wind turbines, exploring the North Sea for oil and natural gas, and conserving energy. Denmark is now self-sufficient in energy and actually exports oil, gas and electricity. High energy costs, coupled with rising labor expenses, have made it harder for many companies to compete. But those that did survive were forced into strategies that gave them a head start on European rivals that are just now starting to become energy-efficient. High energy taxes have been good for the country, but not good for companies, yet Danish individuals have largely acquiesced to the higher energy prices. In an opinion poll by the European Union (2007), more people in Denmark than in any other country said they would be willing to pay higher prices for energy derived from clean sources.

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Wind Power  

Wind power provides some 20% of Denmark's domestic energy, and today almost half of wind turbines around the world are produced by Danish manufacturers such as Vestas. By the end of January 2007 Denmark had 5,267 turbines with a total power of 3,1345MW.  (Picture - offshore wind farm near Copenhagen.)  

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

Dec. 23 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.

Dec. 2009: Denmark's ambitious plan for electric cars  - Ahead of the Copenhagen Conference, Denmark sees itself as the test-bed for the electric car future. The country imposes a punitive tax of about 200% on new cars, so a vehicle that would cost $20,000 in the United States costs $60,000 here. For a quarter-century, electric cars have been exempt from that tax. But the models on the market were so limited in their capabilities that only 497 of them are registered in the entire country. link

Denmark to power electric cars by wind in vehicle-to-grid experiment.
The project on the holiday island of Bornholm will use the batteries of parked electric vehicles to store excess energy when the wind blows hard, and then feed electricity back into the grid when the weather is calm.   read

Denmark's Wind of Change - Time magazine (Feb 25, 2009)   read