A SYSTEM WITH 40% NEW ENERGY

Renewables now cover more than 40% of electricity consumption; Large decrease in observed energy consumption and in greenhouse gas emissions in 2011, and consumption of renewable energy continues to grow…

24 September 2012 (Danish Energy Agency)

“Consumption of renewable energy increased in 2011 by 2.5%...as a result of a large increase in wind-power production…[R]enewables accounted for 23.6% of energy consumption in 2011, against 22.1% in 2010…[E]lectricity production based on renewable energy accounted for 40.7% of domestic electricity supply in 2011, of which wind power contributed 28.1%....[according to] the Danish Energy Agency…The February 2008 energy agreement included the goal that renewable energy was to cover at least 20% of adjusted gross energy consumption by 2011…[T]he percentage of renewable energy was actually 21.8% in 2011…

“Observed energy consumption dropped by 6.4%... in 2011 and was almost down to the 1990 level. The large decrease is because the weather w\as warmer in 2011 than in 2010, and there was a larger contribution from wind power. Furthermore, Denmark was a net importer of electricity in 2011 and therefore used less fuel at power plants…Adjusted energy consumption, which describes the underlying trends, dropped by 0.9% in 2011…primarily due to lower transformation losses, as wind power accounts for a larger proportion of electricity supply.”

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“The goal on the 2008 energy agreement was for adjusted gross energy consumption to fall by 2% from 2006 to 2011. Gross energy consumption was reduced by 6.6% over the period, thereby exceeding the goal by a large margin…As GDP grew by 0.8% in 2011, energy efficiency improved by 1.7% in 2011. Energy efficiency improvements over the past two decades mean that each unit of GDP required 28.5% less energy in 2011 than in 1990…

“…Observed CO2 emissions from energy consumption fell in 2011 by 10.6%...[A]djusted CO2 emissions fell by 2.8%. Since 1990 adjusted CO2 emissions have been reduced by 25.2%...Danish production of crude oil, natural gas and renewable energy etc. fell by 9.8% in 2011…Denmark was the only EU member state to be energy self-sufficient. The degree of self-sufficiency for energy for Denmark was 110% in 2011 compared with 121% in the previous year. This means that energy production was 10% higher than energy consumption in 2011.”

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