World Bank ranks Denmark as leader in green energy

The Danish government will hold on to its green leadership through green transition as the World Bank ranked the country as the leader in green energy, Minister for Energy, Utilities and Climate Lars Christian Lilleholt said on Friday.

"It makes me very proud that once again Denmark can put on the global, green jersey as an indication that Denmark is the country in the world with the best framework conditions for a sustainable energy system," Lilleholt said in a statement.

Denmark has the best framework conditions in the world when it comes to energy efficiency, sustainable energy and access to energy, according to a new report issued by the World Bank.

On a score from 1 to 100, Denmark gets 100 in "access to energy," 86 in "energy efficiency" and 94 in "sustainable energy," securing the leading position with 94 points. It was followed by Canada and the United States each having three points less.

Last autumn, the World Energy Council named Denmark's energy system as the world's best.

"Denmark takes a very strong position and of course the government endeavors to stick to it," the minister said.

Since the energy crisis in the 1970s, Denmark has made substantial investments in sustainable energy, based on wide political agreements on increased energy efficiency and transition to sustainable energy.

The Danish government has set a long-term target of covering at least half of the country's energy needs with renewable energy by 2030 and making it independent of fossil fuels by 2050.

Lilleholt said the government will continue the ambitious green transition and present a series of initiatives during 2017.

"Shortly, we will present an export strategy for energy technology to boost the export of Danish energy technology to countries like the United States, Britain and Germany," the minister said.

"Within the space of a few months, the government's energy commission will present their recommendations for the energy policy as from 2020 and on. Based on these recommendations we will make a proposal for a new, ambitious energy conciliation, which we will present this autumn," he added.

In 2015, Denmark's export of energy technology amounted to 71.4 billion Danish kroner (10.19 billion U.S. dollars), representing 11.1 percent of the total Danish export of goods in the year. This makes Denmark leader in the EU when it comes to the share of export of energy technology of the total export of goods.

The Confederation of Danish Industry assesses that the country's export of energy technology can rise to 125 billion kroner (17.8 billion U.S. dollars) as a consequence of the international agreement on climate change signed at the COP21 in Paris in 2015. Endit