Climate Consortium Denmark is a public-private partnership promoting Danish cleantech solutions to the climate challenge. The partnership works continually with showcasing viable cleantech solutions. The Consortium was the focal point of business related activities during the United Nations Climate Conference, COP15 in Copenhagen, December 2009.
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Activities
The Consortium brings together efforts from public and private partners in promoting Danish cleantech solutions and technologies. As a public-private partnership Climate Consortium Denmark engages in business affairs as well as civil society activities. The scope of the Consortium is inherently international, focusing on the possibilities of using Danish cleantech solutions in foreign markets.
Among the concrete initiatives of Climate Consortium Denmark are:
The Danish example – Decoupling growth and energy consumption
Until the late 1970s Denmark was almost exclusively dependent on fossil fuels. The 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 energy crisis were wake-up calls for the country. Working consistently with both the supply and demand structure of the energy-market, Denmark has managed to sustain consistent economic growth while keeping energy consumption nearly neutral. Since 1980 the Danish economy has grown by more than 75 percent in real terms while keeping energy consumption nearly constant and reducing CO2 emissions.
This has come about through number of changes: government incentive schemes, including both sticks and carrots promoting renewable energy; cleantech innovations among entrepreneurs as well as established industries and public recognition of the importance of changing energy consumption patterns.
On the supply side energy sources have been heavily diversified and now include: wind power (20% of electricity as of 2009); bio-mass including second generation bio-ethanol; gas from the North Sea and the Continent; the most energy-efficient coal fuelled combined heating power plants in the world; and ordinary gasoline fuel mainly used in transportation.
On the demand side the Danish society has undergone a fundamental change in its consumption patterns driven by an innovative industrial side, massive investments in cleantech and pricing incentives on energy. The efforts include vast reductions of energy waste in private housing and business facilities not least through efficient lighting and better insulation, and an improving energy efficiency of industry and the agricultural sector.