We must phase out fossil energy and thus also remove gas from the Danish heating supply. Like the EU, where EU Commissioner Dan Jørgensen recently presented the Commission's legislative proposal with a ban on Russian natural gas already before the end of 2027, Denmark should also continue the important work of ensuring independence from Russian natural gas and at the same time continue the green transition.

Unfortunately, we see that Denmark, unlike the EU, has not made any new political decisions on phasing out gas since 2022, when the energy crisis hit. In just three years, Denmark has gone from being at the forefront of phasing out gas in space heating to now facing declining district heating conversions and heat pump sales.

This is the wrong development. Therefore, there is a need for the government and the Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities to follow up on the political ambition from 2022 to phase out gas boilers in Danish homes by 2035, and set a clear direction for the gas phase-out so that consumers, industry and production know what they are getting into. It would be a disservice to consumers to keep them in a heat source that is on the way out and at the same time risks becoming more and more expensive.

Biogas is a valuable but scarce resource in the natural gas phase-out

An important point for many is that more and more biogas is being produced in Denmark. This is good news, but biogas is a scarce resource that we must use wisely. Instead of letting it flow into the gas grid to homes that have the option of switching to district heating, heat pumps or other green solutions, we should use biogas where it is difficult to electrify or replace gas consumption with district heating.

Especially in Danish industry and in peak load in district heating production, biogas should replace natural gas. But Danish biogas can also help the rest of Europe get rid of Russian gas. In Danish households, we have good opportunities to replace gas with far less climate-damaging solutions such as district heating and heat pumps. The same opportunities are not readily available in the rest of Europe. Therefore, we should use less gas for individual heating in Denmark, and instead send our excess biogas south. Europe has one common connected gas network, so when we export more Danish biogas, we also remove the same amount of Russian fossil natural gas. No EU country is free of Russian gas until everyone is.

The phasing out of gas requires a clear direction – now

Let's put two lines under the current deadline for phasing out gas boilers in our homes by 2035. A concrete plan for phasing out gas boilers in Danish homes must provide clarity and help motivate gas consumers to choose district heating and heat pumps when replacing their gas boilers. If this is to succeed, the phasing out of gas boilers must be supported throughout the country, including in properties where access to financing for conversion away from gas boilers may be difficult. Replacing gas boilers supports the phasing out of fossil energy and ensures the materialization of the green gas junction in the Climate Projections – where the production of biogas matches demand, and Denmark begins to export biogas to Europe.

While the political agreement envisaged that this gas junction would occur in 2030, the latest projection shows that it will not occur until 2032 at the earliest. This means that it is even slower than expected to get biogas to match gas consumption. This is unsustainable, which is why we are making this clear call: Let us get clarification and confirm the political agreement for the phasing out of gas boilers in homes, so that we can ensure that Denmark has a future-proof heating supply.

This opinion piece was published in Børsen on August 19 and was written by:

Bjarke Møller, Director of the Green Transition Denmark, Stine Johansen, Director of KL, Winni Grosbøll, Director of the Consumer Council Think, Ulrich Bang, Deputy Director of the Danish Chamber of Commerce, Christian Ibsen, Director of CONCITO, Katrine Bjerre, Director of SYNERGI, Mette Rose Skaksen, Deputy Director of Green Power Denmark, Nicolai Siegumfeldt, Deputy Director of TEKNIQ and Kim Mortensen, Director of Danish District Heating