Burning solid wood biomass is a blemish on Danish climate and energy policy. I have, among other things, told to TV2, who has made an Operation X documentary about biomass with the title "Burning Deceit". After thorough research, the broadcast has revealed that entire tree trunks are felled in the USA and Estonia and made into wood pellets, which are later burned in this country, i.a. in Ørsted's cogeneration plant.

Ørsted will probably use the classic communication strategy: Attack, deny and never admit defeat. But the Operation-X revelations are a failure. And it should not come as a surprise to anyone who has followed the international press's revelations of the many gaps in the certification schemes – e.g. FSC – under which Ørsted and others cover themselves. Ørsted has an ambition to be a climate frontrunner and to become a nature-positive company, but the new revelations should be another wake-up call to CEO Mads Nipper to get out of the bubble. It is absolutely not sustainable to burn wood biomass and turn it into electricity or heat.

Red ears

There should also be red ears to the politicians, including Climate Minister Lars Aagaard, who warmly defend this practice, even though the Climate Ministry has stated in a reply to SF's Signe Munk in the Folketing that the Danish burning of wood biomass over 20 years net leads to a discharge of 114 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. This roughly corresponds to what agriculture emits over 8,7 years!

Every year, Denmark imports over 3,5 million tonnes of wood biomass, which is sent by diesel ships to Denmark, and massive state support is given to it. The TV2 broadcast has calculated the direct and indirect support at DKK 6 billion. DKK in 2023. Of this, 478 million DKK direct support to the power plants that burn wood biomass to make electricity.
In addition, there is indirect support in the form of a technical tax exemption for businesses and households, which in the Ministry of Taxation's Fiscal Economic Statement for 2023 is calculated at DKK 5,5 billion. DKK/year.

The heating with wood biomass should – according to the climate burden – be subject to a tax, but it is not. This gives them a competitive advantage compared to other energy sources that do not get that free ticket. Fortunately, tax exemption will be phased out next year as a result of the industry's green tax reform, but if the total direct and indirect state support is calculated over the entire period for 2022-2028, biomass reaps a total profit of DKK 21 billion. DKK That is more than 10 times more than is given to solar and wind energy during this entire period!

Biomass support slows down electrification

Biomass burning is a disgrace, because with massive state support you actually worsen the climate crisis. Not only because the extra CO2 emitted into the atmosphere, but also because you remove a CO2 store in the forests. Increased afforestation is one of the most cost-effective ways to suck CO2 out of the atmosphere, but the Danish state provides support for felling trees abroad. And the EU still regards biomass burning as a clean renewable energy source, even though in practice it damages the climate both calculated over 20 years and 100 years. In Denmark, biomass burning makes up approximately two-thirds of what we call renewable energy, but it is based on a displacement of climate realities that it is counted there. This is also why you should watch the Operation X documentary and listen to the experts who appear in the broadcast.

Biomass burning should be phased out quickly and by 2035 at the very latest, the import of wood fuel from abroad should be stopped.
Already today, there are good and cost-effective alternatives in the form of heat pumps and electric boilers that can be powered by clean green electricity from solar and wind energy, as well as geothermal energy in parts of the country. But they are discriminated against by the state in the support schemes. The massive state support for biomass – it receives a total of DKK 4,6 billion. DKK in direct support from 2022-28 – is helping to delay the electrification of Danish society. Only 19 per cent of our total gross energy consumption is electrified, and development has stalled in the last few decades. In this decade alone, more than 50 billion in direct and indirect state support for biogas and biomass burning, which is many times more than is given for energy efficiency improvements and solar and wind energy. Heat pumps, which can replace the many oil and gas boilers in Danes' homes, get just over DKK 100 million. DKK in government grants from 2022-28. The incentives are skewed, but we should support faster electrification of the heat supply. And our district heating plants and the industry should invest much more in industrial heat pumps and electric boilers - and stop building new biomass plants - so that we can accelerate electrification.

Taxes and support schemes hit the wrong mark

In Denmark, taxes and fees, as well as the support schemes, do not help to support a cost-effective green transition. Both support schemes and taxes are currently helping to delay the transition away from the combustion society. That's the big story beyond the Operation X cover-up. It doesn't get any better than the fact that European Energy has revealed in a new report that it appears that green electricity (including grid tariffs) is more heavily taxed than fossil fuels, calculated per energy unit. The drastic increases in grid tariffs since the climate election in 2019 are now threatening the business case of many renewable energy developers. And because the politicians do not do more to increase the demand for green electricity either – you can, for example, stop the sale of new fossil-fuel cars in 2025/26 and set a faster end date for gas in the pipeline - then we have ended up in a catch-22 situation.

There is too little demand for green power for the RE developers to get a good business case. And with the skewed support schemes, taxes and tariffs, both fossil fuels and heating with wood biomass provide some advantages that tie us firmly to the combustion society. This is also why the development of wind and solar energy has stagnated and is now lagging behind our neighboring countries.
If the government wants to take the green transition and the climate crisis seriously, a rapid phasing out of all subsidies for combustion energy should now be done - including the DKK 3,6 billion. DKK that have been given in direct and indirect fossil subsidies - and introduce a biomass tax that corresponds to their real climate impact. At the same time, you should continue to lower electricity taxes and find another way to finance the expansion of the electricity grid than sending the entire extra bill to the renewable energy developers who can help us free ourselves from fossil fuels. Let the fossil energy consumers pay a larger part of the bill for the transformation away from the fossil system.

If you remove the lopsided subsidies for combustion energy and reduce electricity taxes/grid tariffs, there will also be much greater demand for green power, which will strengthen the business case for solar and wind energy, heat pumps and geothermal energy. And Ørsted, what are they going to do? They should jump full steam ahead as a nature-positive company. They should immediately stop greenwashing their burning of biomass and phase it out with clean green alternatives. Ørsted now has the chance to put itself on the right side of climate history. If they don't do it, then they also have to take the beating that their "dieselgate" and tactical evasive maneuvers entangle them ever further into. And yes, and I hope that Green Power Denmark will soon emerge as a true defender of electrification instead of clinging to the past and the combustion society.

This debate post has been published in Klimamonitor on 6 December 2024.