Ben Hamilton
June 7th, 2018

Share

The district heating system relies on energy produced by incinerators like this one at Amager Bakke (photo: Orf3us)

Denmark’s low ranking in the latest figures from Eurostat regarding climate-friendly electricity, which places the country in 32nd place out of 40 countries, is partly a result of the country’s reliance on the incineration of trash to warm our homes via long-established district heating systems.

Additionally, there are not enough electric vehicles – a recent increase in sales was halted in 2016 when the government started to phase back registration taxes scrapped in 2008.

Not enough green electricity being used
Denmark is good at producing green electricity, reports Politiken, but it does not use enough, and long-term this is bad news if it wants to fulfil the EU’s 2050 goal to eliminate CO2 emissions.

A recent report by Eurelectric and McKinsey demonstrates that if heating, transport and industry were electrified, 95 percent of the country’s CO2 emissions could be eliminated by that date.

Medicinal cannabis trials to begin this summer
Aalborg University Hospital will later this summer commence clinical trials that test medicinal cannabis on arthritis patients. Additionally, it will be assessed whether the drug can be used as an alternative to traditional therapies. The results are expected within three years.

Hump-back whale sighted in Danish waters
A young hump-back whale was sighted in the Kattegat sea on Wednesday off the northeast coast of Jutland. Brian Møller Nielsen, who has been sailing in the area for 30 years, confirmed to TV2 that it was seven to eight metres long, and experts later confirmed that footage taken from the boat was indeed of the rarely-seen whale. “It’s totally wild,” said Nielsen – yes, literally and figuratively.

Wind turbine testing centre expansion approved
Parliament has approved the expansion of two wind turbine centres in northwest Jutland. The centres in Østerild and Høvsøre will have the capacity to test nine and seven turbines, measuring 330 and 200 metres in size (up from 250 and 165) respectively. The Østerild expansion should be completed in 2019, while Høvsøre ​​will have to wait a little longer.

Contrary to some recipe books, rhubarb leaves can be deadly poisionous
It isn’t the first time that DTU Food Institute has issued a warning about eating rhubarb leaves, and it won’t be the last. Don’t put them in salads because they are poisonous! In some cases, their ingestion could even cause death. For a few fateful weeks during World War I, the leaves were suggested as a replacement for spinach, and recently there have been a few cookbooks with recipes recommending their use.

Sustainable underwear range smashes Kickstarter record
A recent Kickstarter campaign launched by sustainable underwear manufacturer Organic Basics could not have gone any better. Launched on May 1, it raised a million kroner – far in excess of its 190,000 kroner target – the most successful ever fashion-related campaign in Scandinavia.

Third on the Environmental Performance Index
Denmark finished third on the latest Environmental Performance Index, finishing only behind Switzerland and France. Its best category ranking was third for Environmental Health. Elsewhere, it ranked 11th for Ecosystem Vitality, 18th for Biodiversity and Habitat, 94th for Forests, 87th for Fisheries, 25th for Climate and Energy and 37th for Air Pollution, 14th for Water Resources and 7th for Agriculture.