176

News

Some 400,000 homes to scrap gas furnaces 

Christian Wenande
April 11th, 2022


This article is more than 2 years old.

The move is just one aspect of a forthcoming government proposal on how Denmark will become independent from Russian gas

Don’t let the economy go up in smoke, warns the governor of the central bank (photo: Pixabay)

In an interview with Berlingske newspaper, PM Mette Frederiksen unveiled that drastic measures would be needed to wean Denmark off its dependency on Russian gas. 

One such measure will be getting 400,000 private households in Denmark to swap their gas furnace with another energy source.

“We need to get them over to something that makes sense, like district heating or individual heating pumps. We must ensure the Danes get away from natural gas,” Frederiksen told Berlingske. 

READ ALSO: Denmark inks big wind energy agreement in the US

More Danish gas?
The move is just one element of the government’s ‘Danmark kan mere 2’ (‘Denmark can do more 2’) proposal, which the PM said will be presented after the Easter break. 

Other elements of the proposal will include building more sustainable energy sources – and doing so more rapidly – exporting green tech to promote efficient energy use, and looking into the possibility of Denmark ramping up its own production of natural gas. 

“I think that we, and a number of other European countries, would rather use Danish gas than buy it from Putin in the coming years,” said Frederiksen.

However, said the PM, Denmark’s agreement to end oil and gas production in the North Sea by 2050 will still hold. 

Currently, the EU imports about 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia.


Share

Most popular

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to receive The Daily Post

















Latest Podcast

A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”