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Denmark hailed as model in handling water

Xinhua, November 17, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Danish water sector is considered as an energy-efficient sector, according to a report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday.

In the IEA report, the Marselisborg wastewater treatment plant in Aarhus is selected as an example of how wastewater treatment can become energy-neutral in the future.

"The IEA's mention is valuable for Danish technology producers, and hopefully they will ensure that the technology will be valuable to countries outside Denmark as well," Danish Minister for Environment and Food Esben Lunde Larsen said in a statement.

According to the report, World Energy Outlook 2016, the Danish water sector uses far less energy on producing drinking water and on cleaning wastewater than other European Union member states and the United States. Wastewater treatment plants in Denmark produce much more energy than they use.

"It's good for the environment and for consumers when a growing number of Danish wastewater treatment plants become energy producers, and make revenues from selling energy," Larsen said.

The water sector is one of the most energy-consuming sectors in the world. The sector is estimated to account for about 4 percent of total annual electricity consumption worldwide. However, the Danish water sector only uses 1.8 percent of Danish electricity consumption, and this figure is set to decrease significantly in the future, according to the minister.

According to Lars Schroeder, CEO of Aarhus Water which owns the Marselisborg treatment plant, there have been increasing interests from around the world in coming to see how Aarhus, the country's second largest city in the Jutland peninsula, has succeeded in adapting its wastewater treatment plants to be energy producers rather than consumers of energy.

Schroeder said the Marselisborg wastewater treatment plant produces 50 percent more electricity than it consumes.

"This is quite unique. The excess electricity goes out to consumers as green energy. We also produce heat for district heating network, which is equivalent to the annual consumption of 500 (homes)," he added.

A recent report on the Danish water sector said the entire Danish water sector could become energy neutral within a few years. Endit