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Energistyrelsen considering energy rationing

Didong Zhao
August 17th, 2022


This article is more than 2 years old.

thermal power stations results in conversion losses. (photo: Jonas Smith/ Flickr)

In response to the gas crisis caused by Russia, Energistyrelsen is investigating the possibility of rationing energy in the future.

Since the outbreak of the War in Ukraine, the gas supply from Russia to Europe has become unstable. Russia could potentially cut it off at any time.

To Germany, one of its biggest recipients, the supply is currently running at a fifth of its capacity.

Several European countries, including Spain and Germany, are already taking steps to reduce usage, including switching off street lighting and shutting down air-conditioning. 

Fear of gas shortages 
Overall, Denmark is less dependent on gas than many other European countries. However, while its situation is optimistic in the short-term, there are worries about the long-term.

“Thanks to the green transition in our industry and our biogas production, we have full stocks of gas now, but we could face a serious crisis in the long term,” Martin Hansen, the deputy head of Energistyrelsen, told TV2.

The initiatives and the effects taken by other countries like Germany are being assessed by Energistyrelsen, but “no political decision has been made on anything yet”, he added.

Nevertheless, Energistyrelsen has launched a campaign this summer to encourage Danish households and businesses to save energy, which will be intensified heading into the autumn.


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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.”