Supplementary memorandum submitted by
WWF-UK
DENMARK'S SUCCESS IN DELIVERING EMISSIONS
REDUCTIONS THROUGH ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURES
Denmark has been at the forefront of implementing
new approaches to energy efficiency, through both technological
approaches (such as decentralisation of power with community heating
and CHP) and fiscal measures. For example, in the 1990s Denmark
introduced a variety of "green taxes", including an
energy tax, the revenues from which were recycled into subsidies
for energy saving projects.
Figure 1: shows changes in gross
energy consumption and energy intensity from 1975 to 2003[30]:
Denmark's gross energy consumption figures are
derived by adjusting observed energy consumption by the fuel consumed
to produce electricity for net exports, plus adjustments for climate
variations.
Energy intensity (ie energy consumption in relation
to the size of the gross national product) has fallen dramatically
over the past three decades. From its peak at the end of the 1970s,
Figure 1 shows that gross energy consumption in Denmark has fallen
by an average of 0.2% per annum over the 24 years to 2003.
The Association for the Conservation of Energy
(ACE) gives an alternative comparison, which includes the consumption
shifts induced by the oil price shocks and economic changes of
the 1970s. Between 1973 and 2002, Denmark's total primary energy
supply (TPES) decreased from 19.8 Mtoe (megatonnes of oil equivalent)
to 19.7 Mtoe. In this period, the Danish GDP increased from $128.44
billion to $213.14 billion, representing an average growth rate
of 1.76% per annum[31].
For a more recent and detailed comparison, Table
1 shows a breakdown of energy consumption in Denmark since 1995.
Gross energy consumption decreased from 839 Petajoules (PJs) in
1995 to 829 PJs in 2003, a 1.2% fall over eight years[32].
During this period, Denmark's GDP grew by an average of 2% per
year[33].
Table 1
GROSS ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN DENMARK (UNIT
= PJ) [34]
| 1995 |
1999 | 2000 | 2001
| 2002 | 2003 |
Total | 839
| 842 | 837 |
834 | 827 | 829
|
Oil | 373 | 382
| 375 | 375 | 360
| 343 |
| Natural Gas | 134 | 193
| 193 | 194 | 197
| 191 |
| Coal | 265 | 181
| 176 | 167 | 162
| 176 |
| Renewables and wastes | 68 |
86 | 94 | 98 | 108
| 118 |
| |
| | | |
|
These examples of energy savings over different periods of
economic growth have led to CO2 emissions reductions over and
above those achieved by Denmark's highly successful application
of renewable energy technologies.
31 October 2005
30
Danish Energy Authority, http://www.risoe.dk/bem/Files/Energy_policy_statement_2004.pdf Back
31
Association for the Conservation of Energy. Back
32
Danish Energy Authority, http://www.ens.dk/graphics/UK_Facts_Figures/Statistics/yearly_statistics/Energy_in_Denmark
2003.pdf Back
33
OCED source, http://lysander.sourceoecd.org/vl=210335/cl=70/nw=1/rpsv/scoreboard/f03.htm Back
34
Danish Energy Authority, http://www.ens.dk/graphics/UK_Facts_Figures/Statistics/yearly_statistics/Energy_in_Denmark
2003.pdf Back
| 
