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26 Mar 2012: Denmark Aims to Achieve
35 Percent Green Energy by 2020

The Danish government has approved a series of goals to significantly reduce its carbon emissions and increase its use of green energy by 2020, an “ambitious green transition” officials say will affect all levels of society. The agreement, which was approved by parliament last week, targets cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 34 percent by 2020, compared with 1990 levels, and reducing gross energy consumption by 12 percent compared with 2006 levels. By 2020, Denmark plans to obtain 35 percent of its energy from renewable sources and 50 percent of its electricity from wind power. To achieve these goals, the agreement calls for improvements to Denmark’s smart grid, the retrofitting of buildings, expansion of biogas, and increased use of electricity and biomass for the transportation sector. “This will prepare us for a future with increasing prices for oil and coal,” Martin Lidegaard, Denmark’s minister for Climate, Energy and Building, told the Guardian. “Moreover, it will create some of the jobs that we need so desperately, now and in the coming years.” The Danish government has set a target to meet all of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2050.

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