You need a strong cause that will generate support among the population, strengthen your municipality's green profile and make a difference to society. So while you're busy making election posters, Facebook videos and participating in various debates, we'd like to help you with a strong cause: Stop burning wood in the municipality's supply. Why, you might ask?

1) Citizens' wallets: Imports of wood pellets and wood chips have increased dramatically – more than 95 percent of wood pellets and 50 percent of wood chips come from abroad. Danish overconsumption makes us dependent on the global raw materials market, where prices fluctuate and are expected to increase, because wood biomass is a limited resource that must be used in many places in the transition. Electrification of heat production helps make heat cheaper for citizens in your municipality than when it is based on wood burning.

2) Climate: Although it looks green on paper, the burning of wood in Denmark has added over 120 million tons of CO2 to the atmosphere. Wood actually emits more than coal, even when it is burned. The damage (increased drought, floods, forest fires) caused by increased warming will not be removed, even if a new tree absorbs the same amount of CO2 after a few decades.

3) Nature: At the same time, we are putting massive pressure on foreign forests – often far beyond our control. Countless bad examples show that certification is no guarantee of nature conservation, and a large part of the biomass is also undocumented today. This speaks against the fact that promises to use “sustainable biomass” ensure nature and climate conservation. In Denmark, the high demand for wood has led to a large removal of branches, tops, roots and dead wood. Danish forests have an average of 6,3 m³/ha of dead wood, and approximately 2/3 of the area has none at all. This is far below the levels necessary if the forests are to have any biodiversity value, where far more than 50 m³/ha is needed.

So you are helping both the climate and biodiversity by stopping the burning party.

4) Self-sufficiency: In these times, it is important to make oneself independent from geopolitical power struggles. Electrification with local self-sufficiency of renewable energy not only provides more security, but also allows the city's energy generation to benefit the local community and can contribute to the financing of local needs, such as the renovation of the village school, a cycle path or recreational areas. There are already many examples of this - including at Vejle, where a large solar park also benefits citizens with new paths, the clearing of watercourses and increased biodiversity.

Why now, you think? A lot has happened since biomass was introduced as a transitional solution to get rid of coal. In the meantime, we have increased the consumption of biomass to three times the globally sustainable level and burn around 90pct. of all the wood we consume in Denmark directly. Last year, the world passed 1,5 degrees of warming for the first time. When we burn wood, it immediately releases more CO2 into the atmosphere, which causes damage and increases the risk of serious, irreversible changes in the climate system. The time it takes for a newly planted tree to absorb the amount again is a growing problem in an already overheated world. Therefore, we should prioritize solutions that reduce emissions now – rather than those that will only work in decades.

At the same time, technological developments in heat pumps and renewable energy have boomed. That's the good news. Because there's no longer any need to burn wood for lukewarm water and electricity.

Therefore, it makes political and economic sense to set a clear course away from burning and towards electrification. But is it possible to avoid burning wood when we currently produce heat and electricity from wood? The answer is yes. It is possible to produce energy without burning trees and fossil sources.

There are now many good alternatives to wood. In Svendborg, wood burning has been replaced with heat pumps. Skærbækværket and Studstrupværket, two of the country's largest combined heat and power plants, will also abandon wood burning after Kredsløb, TVIS and EWII have decided that the heat they receive in the future should not come from wood, but from electricity-based solutions such as heat pumps that use local energy sources such as air, seawater, wastewater and geothermal energy.

Things are not going so well in Copenhagen, where there is talk of building a CCS plant at the Amagerværket. That is, the biomass plant, which is Denmark's largest consumer of wood. Over one million tons of wood, primarily from abroad. The large investment will be a big mistake that will lock the city into excessive wood consumption far into the future.

Now that we can electrify, it's crazy to ship millions of tons of wood in from forests around the world, just to burn it, spend billions on capturing and possibly storing the emissions, and thus delay the implementation of future truly renewable energy sources in your municipality's supply.

Your role as a politician

So what is your role as a local politician? As a local politician, you have a unique chance to secure the green supply of the future, protect citizens from price shocks and at the same time help our nature and climate. As you know, transforming the energy supply takes time. That's why it's important that you help make the decisions that put your local community on the right track, now.

Therefore, you must work to: 1) Adopt a municipal phase-out date for wood biomass in district heating – with a realistic milestone plan. 2) Prioritize investments in electrification with large electrically powered heat pumps, surplus heat and storage. 3) Stop investments in combined heat and power based on biomass combustion. 4) Drop plans for CCS at biomass plants.

We have the technology and the economics in place – now it’s about direction. With a clear plan for phasing out wood biomass, you can strengthen the municipality’s green credibility, ensure stable and competitive heating prices and create local value. It’s a hot topic that can win votes – and that makes a difference. If you need more knowledge, we’re happy to help you get through the topic.

The article was published in Avisen Danmark 1/11 2025. The senders are: Lars Bonderup Bjørn, CEO, EWII. Christina Ihler Madsen, Climate Movement in Denmark. Erik Tang, Green Transition Denmark. Jakob Kronik, Secretary General, Verdens Skove. Asbjørn Haugstrup, Chief External Relations Officer, Innargi. Helene Hagel, Climate and Environmental Policy Manager at Greenpeace.