Pas på de falske klimaløsninger At følge Danmarks eksempel holder ikke 1,5℃ i live

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Danmark har haft stor succes med at udråbe sig som en frontløber i kampen for klimaet. Noget af det, der hele tiden fremhæves er, at Danmarks omstilling af energisektoren har været en stor succes - det fortæller både politikere og andre aktører i energidebatten.

Den danske klima-, energi- og forsyningsminister Dan Jørgensen blev derfor til det sidste klimatopmøde i Glasgow bedt af det britiske formandskab om at lede forhandlingerne om den del af teksten, som skulle holde målet fra Parisaftalen i live. Overskriften lød: “Keeping 1.5 alive”

Det kommende møde har samme dagsorden, men inden de besøgende klimaministre lytter til, hvad Dan Jørgensen har at sige, bør de vide, at Danmark og resten af EU anser afbrænding af biomasse som vedvarende energi, jævnfør EU’s direktiv om vedvarende energi (REDII).

Det medfører - kort fortalt - at Danmark kan brænde træ af fra skove i hele verden og kalde det klimaneutral energi. Og det har resulteret i, at strøm fra de vindmøller, vi er så kendte for i udlandet, i 2020 kun udgjorde 23 % af den såkaldt vedvarende energi i Danmark, mens biomasse til produktion af el og varme udgjorde hele 60 %.

Danmark holder indtil videre fast i denne falske klimaløsning, velvidende at Europa-Kommissionens eget forskningscenter (Joint Research Center) har advaret om, at afbrænding af biomasse fra skove ikke er klimaneutral og har alvorlige konsekvenser for biodiversiteten. Afbrændingen af biomasse udleder CO2 direkte til atmosfæren, mens skovene har brug for årtier, hvis ikke århundreder, for at lagre det igen. Og så længe der kontinuerligt brændes mere og mere træ af til energi, vil det udledte CO2 nok aldrig blive lagret igen.

Ifølge de officielle opgørelser - hvor udledning af CO2 fra afbrænding af biomasse sættes til nul - udledte Danmark årligt knap 42 millioner t CO2-ækvivalenter. Fra skorstenene på kraft-varmeværkerne udledes der dog i virkelighedens verden yderligere næsten 18 millioner tons CO2 - og mere end halvdelen af det træ, der brændes, er importeret. Det er denne praksis, der udgør det meste af den såkaldt “grønne omstilling” i Danmark og pynter på det danske klimaregnskab.

- Danmark er ikke noget grønt foregangsland så længe vi brænder verdens skove af i klimaets navn, og vi er bestemt ikke et godt eksempel som andre lande bør følge. Hvis vi vil leve op til vores grønne image, bør vi i stedet gøre alt hvad vi kan for at forhindre at biomasse bliver det nye kul i verdens energiproduktion, siger Bente Hessellund Andersen fra Miljøbevægelsen NOAH.

NOAH opfordrer sammen med en lang række andre europæiske organisationer EU til et endeligt opgør med accepten af, at energi fra biomasse fortsat regnes som en vedvarende energikilde. Det har haft ulyksalige konsekvenser, at Danmark primært har valgt biomasse som erstatning for de fossile brændstoffer, og hvis vi skal holde 1,5 ℃ i live, er det altafgørende, at resten af verden ikke følger i vores fodspor.

Skriv under her: stopfakerenewables.org hvis du også mener EU bør stoppe afbrændingen af biomasse fra skovene.

Derfor opfordrer vi Danmark og EU til at benytte dette forberedende klimamøde til at indrømme den fejltagelse, det har været at lade bioenergi tælle som en vedvarende energikilde. Vi bør samtidig advare resten af verdens ledere om farerne ved at følge den vej ud af afhængigheden af de fossile brændstoffer, som især Danmark har fulgt.

Så kan ministrene efterfølgende diskutere, hvordan vi får en reelt klimaneutral fremtid.

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Beware of false climate solutions: Following Denmark's example won't keep 1.5℃ Alive

Together with Alok Sharma, President of COP26, and Sameh Shoukry, President of COP27, Denmark is hosting a preparatory climate meeting on 12-13 May in Copenhagen to pave the way for the upcoming COP27 in Egypt.

Denmark has been very successful in proclaiming itself as a frontrunner in the fight against climate change. One of the things that is constantly highlighted is that Denmark's transformation of the energy sector has been a great success.

Dan Jørgensen, the Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities, was therefore asked by the UK Presidency at COP26 in Glasgow to lead negotiations on the part of the text that would keep the Paris Agreement target alive. The headline read: "Keeping 1.5 alive",

The upcoming meeting (May Ministerial) in Copenhagen has the same agenda, but before the visiting climate ministers listen to Dan Jørgensen, they should know that Denmark and the rest of the EU, according to the EU Renewable Energy Directive (REDII), consider burning forest biomass as zero emissions renewable energy.

This means - in short - that Denmark can burn wood originating from forests all over the world and call it “climate neutral” energy. And it has meant that in 2020, power from wind turbines accounted for only 23% of the so-called renewable energy in Denmark - although wind power is what Denmark is known for abroad - while biomass for electricity and heat production accounted for a whopping 60%. Denmark has merely shifted from burning coal to burning biomass.

According to Denmark’s official stocktaking - which sets CO2 emissions from biomass burning at zero - Denmark emitted almost 42 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2020. But in reality, the chimneys of combined heat and power plants emitted almost 18 million additional tonnes of CO2 from forest biomass - and more than half of the wood burned is imported. It is this practice that accounts for most of the so-called "green transition" in Denmark and embellishes the Danish climate performance.

Denmark is so far sticking to this false climate solution, even though the European Commission's own Joint Research Centre has warned that burning biomass from forests is not climate neutral and has serious negative consequences for biodiversity. Burning biomass emits CO2 directly into the atmosphere, while forests need decades, if not centuries, to store it again. And as long as more and more forest biomass is continuously burned for energy, the emitted CO2 will probably never be stored again. Forests - the only real ‘technology’ we have at scale to remove carbon from the atmosphere - must be allowed to grow old, not turned into fuel crops for energy production.

- Denmark is not a green pioneer as long as we burn the world's forests in the name of climate, and we are certainly not a good example for other countries to follow. If we want to live up to our green image, we should instead do everything we can to prevent biomass from becoming the new coal in the world’s energy production, says Bente Hessellund Andersen, NOAH Friends of the Earth Denmark.

NOAH, together with a large number of other European organisations, urges the EU to stop burning forestsand stop calling it renewable energy. Denmark's decision to burn forest biomass instead of fossil fuels has led to devastating consequences while doing nothing to decrease our emissions. It is therefore crucial  that the rest of the world does not follow in our footsteps if we are to keep 1.5 ℃ alive.

We therefore call on Denmark and the EU to show proper climate leadership and use this preparatory meeting to admit and fix the mistake of counting bioenergy as a renewable energy source. At the same time, we should warn the rest of the world's leaders of the dangers of following the path out of dependence on fossil fuels that Denmark in particular has followed.

Then the May Ministerial can be spent discussing how we can have a truly carbon-neutral future.