Denmark will be able to switch to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, says, Henrik Lund, Aalborg University, Denmark, during the 21st International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering (CHISA).
Lund has explained that the shift will require smart energy systems for electricity generation, heating and transport, the three key uses highlighted by government.
In the smart energy system, the excess energy in the grid is used to produce hydrogen that hydrogenates some of the bio-derived oils directly to produce synthetic fuels.
This smart energy system will not require any need to store electricity and the excess energy will be stored in the form of heat and liquid fuels.
For a smart energy approach, the power-to-heat and power-to-gas conversions should also be considered finding a solution to balance the system, suggested, Lund.
Currently, around 30 percent of Denmark’s electricity comes from wind, while 50 percent is produced from small-scale combined heat and power (CHP) plants, used mainly for district-heating.
Moreover, the supply of wind-generated electricity often exceeds demand and solutions are needed to prevent this energy from being wasted.
An ideal solution will be using the excess wind energy produced as a substitute for energy from CHP plants, adapting more renewable sources.
The problem with transportation is electric vehicles cannot be employed in place of entire liquid fuel fleet. To an extent, biomass and biofuels can be displaced.
The Danish government has established renewable energy target in 2006, agreeing on interim targets including 50 percent of energy to be produced from wind by 2020.
The target set for 2030 is that no power plants will burn coal and no households will use oil for heating.
The government had achieved universal cross-party support for the 100percent renewable goal. Further, achieving the government’s target needs reducing the energy demand and improving the efficiency of energy production.