55 MARTINDALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISE Denmark a net importer of nearly 310 PJ of energy. Of the total imported energy, the Danish Energy Agency estimates that only 81 PJ of these imports are sustainable. Most renewable energy imports come in the form of biomass (mostly wood pellets and chips), primarily from Estonia and Latvia, the US, and neighboring Scandinavian countries. The low ratio of imported sustainable energy drives the percentage of renewables consumed below the percentage of domestic renewable energy production (Danish Energy Agency, 2020a and 2020b). Renewable energy production Denmark has made significant strides in increasing renewable energy production, from 45 PJ in 2000 to 181 PJ in 2020, representing 45.4% of its total domestic energy production. The primary source of renewable energy in Denmark is biomass, almost 80 PJ of its energy. As shown in Figure 1, wind power is the second largest source, contributing 58 PJ of energy. Biogas and heat pumps generate 21 PJ and 13 PJ of energy, respectively. Solar energy makes up 8 PJ of Denmark’s renewable energy mix, whereas hydro and geothermal account for the remaining share (Danish Energy Agency, 2020a). Denmark’s extensive windswept North Sea coastline has enabled the nation to produce 32.5% of its renewable energy via wind power. In 2020, offshore and onshore wind capacity grew to 58 PJ, a substantial increase from the 1990 capacity of 2 PJ, the 2000 capacity of 15 PJ, and 2010 capacity of 28 PJ, as noted in Figure 2 (Danish Energy Agency, 2020a). Denmark plans to continue expanding its wind power capacity, but the main driver of renewable energy in Denmark, at least in the short to medium term, will be bioenergy, which includes biomass and biogas production, and at present provides 56% of the nation’s renewable energy. As of 2020, Denmark utilized 80 PJ of biomass and 21 PJ of biogas for domestic energy production, the vast majority coming from wood products, including 19 PJ from straw, 19 PJ from wood chips, and 14 PJ from firewood. Denmark also imported 18 PJ of wood chips, 46 PJ of wood pellets, and a net of 7 PJ of biodiesel. Combining these figures reveals that Denmark consumes nearly 181 PJ of bioenergy across domestic production and energy imports. The country consumes 260 PJ of renewable energy in total, so bioenergy constitutes nearly 70% of renewable energy consumption in the nation (Danish Energy Agency, 2020a). Wind energy and bioenergy make up most of the Danish renewable energy mix. To achieve the goal of becoming carbon neutral, Denmark must focus on increasing domestic production of sustainable Figure 2 Annual wind energy production 1990–2020, in petajoules Source: Danish Energy Agency, 2020a.
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