Denmark unveils energy plan to be ‘free from Putin’

Denmark showcased on Tuesday a roadmap to end its dependence on Russian gas by boosting renewable energy, biogas, and its own gas production to become “free” from President Vladimir Putin.

While the European Union has so far refused to ban Russian oil and gas over the Ukraine battle, the 27-nation bloc targets to reduce its gas imports from the united states of America by means of the stop the year

Individual member international locations have also unveiled plans to reduce their use of Russian fossil fuels.

The plan presented by the Danish government includes moving half of the 400,000 households that are heated with gas to district heating networks or electric heat pumps by 2028.

For other households and businesses, the government aims to develop biogas from renewable sources “that will ensure that we are free from Putin,” Climate and Energy Minister Dan Jorgensen said at a press conference.

The government also stepped up its program to develop renewable energy, saying it now plans to quadruple the number of solar power stations and land-based wind farms by 2030.

Half of Denmark’s electric power already comes from wind energy.

“We want to develop renewable energies as much as it is possible to do it in an intelligent manner,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.

Gas accounts for 18 percent of the energy consumed in Denmark each year. National production accounted for three-quarters of the gas consumed in 2019, with Russia among the main sources of imported natural gas, according to the Danish energy agency.

The government said it would study the possibility of temporarily increasing gas production at fields already being exploited in the North Sea.

It said that it has not canceled plans to end gas production in the North Sea by 2050.

The International Energy Agency said that, in 2021, the EU imported 155 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia, representing 45 percent of its gas imports.