27 June 2022
Denmark forges cross-party green agreement
The Danish government announced that a broad majority in the Folketing had agreed that by 2030 Denmark will quadruple the production of solar and wind energy on land as well as the possibility of five times the offshore wind turbine power. The ambition is that all gas in Denmark will be green by 2030, and that from 2035 there will be no homes that are heated with gas.
According to the Minister of Climate, Energy and Supply Dan Jørgensen, “With this agreement, Denmark will be a large green power plant for the whole of Europe, when we now create the opportunity for a fivefold increase in Danish offshore wind turbine power in 2030. It is absolutely crucial for the climate and to make Denmark independent of Russian energy that a broad and responsible majority in the Folketing now stand together and show that Denmark can do more. We are pushing for the roll-out of district heating and setting a clear ambition that all gas must be green by 2030, and in 2035 we will completely get rid of gas boilers in Danish homes.”
One part of the agreement promises a quadrupling of renewable energy on land, boosting solar parks and onshore wind turbines can provide cheap green energy in the years leading up to 2030, so Denmark becomes independent of Russian gas and oil as quickly as possible. Another part notes that the “ambition is that all gas in Denmark will be green by 2030, and that there will be no homes heated with gas from 2035. The tools are faster district heating roll-out, more heat pumps and more biogas.”
The announcement received support from amongst others, Danish Industry and the Danish Society for Nature Conservation, which observed that the agreement focuses on biodiversity, coexistence and that threats to override nature protection have not been taken seriously.
Earlier, on Friday, the government said that Danish EU ETS-covered companies will face a carbon fee of DKK 75/t in 2025, rising annually to DKK 375/t (€50/t) by 2030.
Separately, Jørgensen noted that while this agreement focused on building sufficient renewable energy supply to power the green transition, hydrogen and PtX remained key to the transition, supported by DKK 1.25 billion for a tender that will kick-start the production of the green fuels and infrastructure such as pipelines and underground storage facilities.
Press release, Business Review, Carbon Pulse
New research and innovation partnership to make Denmark the centre of PtX
The MissionGreenFuels partnership will work to phase out fossil fuels in shipping, heavy road transport, aviation and the maritime shipping industry by 2030. It will help Denmark achieve one of the biggest challenges in the green transition.
MissionGreenFuels works on two overall parallel tracks based on research to ensure the implementation of new knowledge and new solutions in both the short and long term. One track focuses on the commercial upscaling of already known technologies, realising large demonstration projects and the construction of new value chains targeted at customers in the transport sector in the relatively short term.
The second track, also in the short run, is about research into new business models and forms of financing, behaviour and citizen involvement in the construction of power-to-X facilities (PtX).
Neste acquires Alterra Energy's technical solution for chemical plastic recycling
Neste has acquired the European rights to Alterra Energy's technical solution for liquefaction of plastic waste, which will further strengthen the company's work to develop methods for chemical recycling. Alterra Energy is a company based in the USA that has developed its own thermochemical solution for converting plastic waste that is difficult to recycle into a liquid. In 2020, Neste acquired a minority stake in Alterra Energy. Neste has further developed its processing of liquid plastic waste from Alterra Energy, among others, in a series of test rounds at the company's refinery in Finland.
Together with Ravago, Neste also plans to form a joint venture and use Alterra Energy's technology in Vlissingen in the Netherlands and to scale up its liquid plastic processing capacity at its Porvoo refinery in Finland, Neste is currently conducting a study to investigate the possibility of investing in more pre-treatment and upgrading capacity, reducing its dependence on virgin fossil resources and accelerating the transition to a circular chain for polymers and chemicals.
Volvo Cars wants to find global sustainable mobility solutions within the Gothenburg Green City Zone
Two years ago, Volvo Cars contacted Business Region Gothenburg, with its idea of a green test zone. Then it turned out that they had similar ambitions for the sustainable mobility issues in the city. Together, an end goal was set - that by 2030 there will be a large emission-free zone in Gothenburg, in line with the city's adopted goal of a fossil-free transport system by 2030 and that carbon dioxide emissions from transport must have been reduced by at least 90%.
The goal is to test and demonstrate solutions in collaboration with other actors, such as business, the city, academia and institutes. In the first place, it is technology that is relatively mature but that must be tested together with other parts at system level. For example, our connected cars get an even greater value if they are connected to something else. In the zone, we can test them against infrastructure, traffic management and traffic safety to find out how they work with the rest of society, says Thomas Andersson.
Another reason for Volvo Car's participation in the initiative is that Gothenburg is a good type of city to have a test zone in. There are around 300 cities in Europe and 250 cities in North America that have a similar characteristic as Gothenburg.
Einride gets a licence to drive a truck without a driver on a public road in the USA
The startup has become the first company to obtain a permit to drive a truck without a driver on a public road in the USA.
Visblue sees big uptick in interest
Denmark’s Visblue, which develops flow batteries for energy storage, is benefiting from the growing demand for storing green electricity from solar and wind. In the few months they have gone from 10 to 15 monthly customer meetings to between 30 and 40 of these, and CEO Søren Bødker looks forward to the coming years, and to becoming cash positive.
Vattenfall and Preem will investigate large-scale phasing out of fossil fuels using offshore wind power and hydrogen
Vattenfall and Preem are entering a feasibility study phase that examines the possibilities of rapidly developing a value chain where offshore wind power and hydrogen are linked to the refinery industry on the Swedish west coast to enable a rapid transition to fossil-free fuels, starting by 2030.
Finnair to use Sustainable Aviation Fuel to power its flights from California.
Finnair has signed a new agreement with Colorado-based renewable fuels producer Gevo to provide the fuel on the carrier's flights departing from Los Angeles. The agreement will come into effect in 2027 and provide for the purchase of seven million gallons of SAF annually for the following five years.
What we’re reading
- EU agrees deal on company disclosures to combat greenwashing (Reuters)
- Stellantis invests €50mn in lithium start-up to secure car battery metals (Financial Times)
- Russian gas crisis will test EU solidarity, warns German utility RWE (Financial Times)
About Nordic Green News
The Nordic countries are some of the most dynamic and successful economies in the world. They are also leaders in sustainability, from renewable energy, biofuels, carbon capture and storage and the hydrogen economy, circular economy business models and battery development, the Nordics are pioneers in policy design, technology development and consumer uptake. Mundus Nordic Green News is covering this transition for the international community. Every day we curate the stories of most relevance to international businesspeople and policy experts from the flow of news. Mundus Nordic Green Indices summarise the meta-data from our daily coverage to enable easy tracking of trends. We supplement these with our own opinion pieces and commentary.
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