Denmark and the EU use energy in a way that exceeds several planetary boundaries. According to a new report 'Clean energy – within planetary limits in 2040' from the Green Transition Denmark, which will be published on Monday 30 September 2024, the heat supply in Denmark and the rest of Europe is still heavily dependent on the burning of fossil fuels and wood biomass.

The report emphasizes the need for full electrification of the heating sector and a faster phase-out of wood biomass to achieve an energy system within the planetary limits by 2040. And it shows that it will actually be cheaper for society and households to accelerate the green transition of the heating sector.

Calculations show that consumers can achieve lower heating bills until 2040 if district heating switches from wood biomass and natural gas to heat pumps and electric boilers. In this scenario, heat pumps will cover around 2/5 of the heating needs in Danish households.

“Heat pumps are not just more energy efficient than traditional heating methods. They are the key to reducing CO2 emissions. Overall, households will receive a positive gain of approx. 900 million DKK in 2040 if we replace the wood biomass and fossil fuels with electricity-powered solutions,” says Julie Bangsgaard Abrahams, senior advisor at the Green Transition Denmark.

“We have to realize that our current use of fossil energy and wood biomass is unsustainable. "The phasing out of oil and gas boilers is a critical necessity, and can be replaced relatively quickly with heat pumps or district heating, if the legislation requires it," she says.

Over 3,5 million tons of wood pellets and wood chips are imported to Denmark annually. This seizes large areas of forest which could have functioned as CO2 stores, or the wood could have been used in products such as furniture, new wooden constructions in construction, wooden packaging, bio-economic products etc. In addition, we still have hundreds of thousands of oil and gas boilers.

Heat pumps are 3-5 times as energy efficient as gas boilers or cogeneration plants that create heat by burning solid wood biomass. Denmark's annual burning of wood biomass leads to an immediate discharge of over 15 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, and the Green Transition Denmark therefore recommends that a tax should be introduced on all the biomass that is burned.

At the same time, RGO calls for the phasing out of state aid for producing electricity at biomass-fired power plants and not supporting CO2 capture at these plants.

About the report

The report 'Clean energy - within planetary limits in 2040' presents a thorough analysis of the Danish and European energy system and provides concrete solutions for how we achieve an energy system within planetary limits in 2040. The report will be published on 30 September 2024.