Debate submission brought to the Alting on 21 February 2022 by Annika Lund Gade, adviser in the Green Transition Denmark, Frederik Roland Sandby, head of the secretariat in the Climate Movement, Gry Bossen, political coordinator in World Forests, Lasse Pedersen, senior adviser in the Danish Nature Conservation Association and Sune Scheller, campaign manager in Greenpeace

Denmark's green transformation of the energy supply has been based on burning wood on a large scale.

During the last 20 years, we have tripled our consumption of wood for energy, so that today it makes up almost half of Denmark's renewable energy. But what we once thought was a green transition is in reality completely out of the woods.

Therefore, we are now at a crossroads when the politicians have to negotiate a climate tax. If the tax does not include biomass, it could take us even further down the dead end of an energy supply from biomass. Conversely, a tax on biomass will mean that we can boost the transition towards a green energy supply.

Limited resource

Our consumption of biomass in the energy supply is associated with massive emissions. At the same time, our large consumption of biomass is helping to deplete the forests' carbon stores.

When we cut down trees and vacuum the forest floor for branches that we previously left lying around, we make the forests younger, the trees smaller, and, so to speak, empty the forest of carbon – even if the trees are certified according to all the rules of the art.

Forests across Europe are currently under pressure to such an extent that their carbon stores are getting smaller and smaller. At the same time, biodiversity is under severe pressure and many species find it difficult to cope in the depleted forests, where we have removed habitats and livelihoods for thousands of species associated with old forest and dead wood.

This at a time when we have such a need for forests to absorb and store CO2 from the atmosphere and healthy ecosystems. Therefore, a fundamental shift is needed in how we use wood biomass.

Denmark is one of the countries in the world that consumes the most biomass per capita, and that consumption is far above what is sustainable.

The Danish Energy Agency's own officials estimate that Denmark's massive use of biomass must be reduced by 80 percent to become sustainable.

Our restructuring of the energy supply through an overconsumption of biomass has thus been, in short, a false climate solution.

We are looking into a world where there will be much greater demand for wood. We have to make room for a few billion more people in 2050, a larger middle class in poor countries, and at the same time, wood will have more and more uses in the future, including as a greener alternative to many building materials and as a substitute for plastic in our everyday life.

Therefore, there is no doubt that we in Denmark will need far less wood-based biomass in the energy supply in the future.

That is why we must have taxes on biomass

Even so, biomass for the energy supply is exempt from taxes today, because on paper it is considered a renewable energy source that does not emit CO2 when burned. When Denmark is now going to have climate taxes, it is absolutely crucial that we do away with it.

If wood and other biomass are exempted from a climate tax, we will inadvertently worsen and prolong Denmark's dependence on biomass.

As higher climate taxes are introduced, the financial incentive to burn wood will increase

Sune Scheller, Frederik Roland Sandby, Annika Lund Gade, Gry Bossen and Lasse Jesper Pedersen

Conversely, taxes that include biomass for energy will contribute to the price of biomass reflecting its climate consequences.

In this way, we ensure that it can be better to use wood for other purposes, and that it will be more profitable to use more sustainable energy sources.

It will both mean that the polluter pays, which is the whole idea of ​​a climate tax, and it will be the most efficient and cheapest way to significantly reduce the use of biomass in the energy sector.

We saw the branch we are sitting on

It is now that we must realize that biomass is a limited resource - and that forests are absolutely essential for both a stable climate and well-functioning ecosystems. With our enormous overconsumption of biomass today, we are in the process of sawing off the branch we are sitting on.

In the future, we must prioritize wood for those applications where it actually makes sense for the climate. In the future, our heat supply must be based on sustainable technologies such as large heat pumps, geothermal energy and energy storage.

Politicians have the opportunity to start that development now - by giving us taxes and greener forests.