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THE WASTE ENERGY AND REMOTE HEAT SECTOR CAN REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON RUSSIAN GAS HERE AND NOW, Debate post by Lars Gullev, Director VEKS and Trine Lindegaard Holmberg, Director ARGO
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine just over a fortnight ago, we are now seeing a Europe that few of us ever dreamed we would see.
As in all wars, civilians are suffering the most and more than two million Ukrainians have already fled to the west. In Europe, electricity, natural gas and oil prices are rising at a rate not seen since the energy crises of the 1970s.
As a consequence of the war in Ukraine, a reduction in Russian natural gas supplies to Europe cannot be ruled out. Russia supplies around 40% of all natural gas in the EU (in 2021, imports from Russia amounted to 155 billion m3). Eastern European countries in particular, as well as Germany and Italy, are highly dependent on Russian gas. As the EU covers almost 25% of its energy needs with natural gas, it is therefore very serious if Russia reduces - or closes - its natural gas supplies.
Our agenda needs to change. Right now.
It is therefore only natural that there is broad political support in the Danish Parliament for reducing dependence on natural gas. Indeed, the Danish Liberal Party goes so far as to call on Danish district heating companies to prepare expansion plans covering all district heating areas in the green heat plan by the end of 2022 to ensure a 90% phase-out of natural gas in district heating areas by 2026.
The war in Ukraine shows how security policy and energy policy are closely linked and how quickly the political agenda can - and must - change.
We need look no further back than February 2, 2022, when the European Commission, through a new classification system (taxonomy), made investments in nuclear power and natural gas green and environmentally sustainable investments. Today, it is probably very limited who will invest in natural gas projects if the projects are based on Russian natural gas.
Utilize incineration capacity
In the current energy supply crisis, Denmark is in a better position than most other countries in the EU. We have a well-functioning district heating system, which in many places is based on multiple heat sources such as heat from waste-to-energy plants, CHP plants based on sustainable biomass, surplus heat from industry, electric heat pumps, etc.
Utilizing heat from waste-to-energy plants was actually where Danish district heating started in 1903, so we are dealing with a well-proven technology.
In the waste-to-energy and district heating sector, we can help make a significant difference. For now, let's forget about incinerator closure and incineration capacity reduction.
By importing non-recyclable residual waste from our EU neighbors, we will be able to fully utilize the incineration capacity of current waste-to-energy plants.
It will be a win-win situation in several areas. Danish CO2 emissions will increase marginally, but at EU level there will be an overall reduction in CO2 emissions. Now is not the time for sub-optimization within national borders, but rather optimization within EU borders.
In addition, better utilization of incineration capacity will reduce the cost of waste management for the individual Dane. And the price of district heating from waste-to-energy plants will fall to the benefit of customers. Finally, the use of imported waste will displace sustainable biomass, oil and natural gas, which can instead be used by customers who have no alternative. This applies both inside and outside Denmark's borders. Of course, we are talking about imported residual waste that cannot be recycled and would otherwise be landfilled - which is happening on a large scale in Europe today.
This is where we in the Danish waste-to-energy and district heating sector can show solidarity with those who have no immediate alternative to Russian natural gas. And at the same time highlight the strength that lies in sharing energy.