Biofuels have the potential to provide environmental and economic benefits but they must be carefully managed to ensure that they are truly sustainable resources.
As a result, biomass for bioenergy started being incentivized and promoted as a renewable energy source and an alternative to fossil fuels.
The prospect of the creation of new jobs and the utilization of waste products also factored into Denmark's decision to start using biomass.
In the last decade, bioenergy consumption in Denmark has nearly doubled, increasing by more than a factor of twelve between 1970 and present day.
The Danish strategy to reduce emissions has also included retrofitting older coal-fired plants to biomass and investing heavily into Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) for converting agricultural residues into second-generation (2G) bioethanol, which is then blended with gasoline for the transportation sector.
[2] In agreement with the European Environment Agency Scientific Committee, Denmark considers environmental sustainability as a key component of its strategy to incorporate a greater share of biofuels into its national energy portfolio.
This way, the country is able to ensure that it benefits from incorporating a larger share of biomass into its energy system, as biomass sourced from plantations that have been converted from natural forest land then generate a net carbon benefit over fossil fuels.
[3] Denmark's guidelines for utilizing biomass for energy and transportation strive to ensure both environmental sustainability and efficiency aspects.
[4] As a member state of the European Union (EU), Denmark is under commitments from its directives, which set targets for the amount of renewable energy within the national profiles, including biofuels.
Its strategy continues to support research and innovation to improve production processes and lower costs.
[8] Looking ahead, the challenges for Denmark include uncertainty in future energy demand and securing a reliable supply of biomass that is sustainably produced.
The Danish government set market incentives, such as feed-in tariffs and premiums for bio mass, biofuels and other renewables, in order to reach their ambitious target of being independent from fossil fuels by 2050.
The small country of Denmark with just 5.7 million people is now being asked to lend its expertise to China to advise it on how to develop fuel flexibility, CHP power and heat generation.
The two countries have associated initiatives which seek to improve China's vast energy requirements as the workshop of the world.
[14] sector *Estimated percentage based on proportion of total data submitted in the progress report.
*Estimated percentage based on proportion of total data submitted in the progress report.
Using the IEA unit converter this equates to 13,640,000 GJ of energy, and accounted for 12.7% of electricity generated.
sector *Estimated percentage based on proportion of total data submitted in the progress report.
[13] There were 39 CHP plants using biomass as a fuel in 2014, consuming approximately 2.7 million tonnes to produce heat and power, and corresponding to 40.94 PJ consumption in that year.