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NEWSLETTER FROM THE DANISH EMBASSY WEEK 5

In this edition of the newsletter:
New wastewater treatment to be tested
55 countries support the Copenhagen Accord
Novo Nordisk slashes Co2 output
Denmark to store wind energy in Norway
New York Times gets interested in Danish garbage
Denmark has 4 Oscar chances

New Danish wastewater treatment concept to be tested
A compact new wastewater treatment technology developed by Danish pump giant Grundfos has started a six-month test at Bjerregrav in mid-Jutland

At Bjerregrav municipal treatment plant in mid-Jutland, a compact new wastewater treatment technology developed by Danish pump giant Grundfos has started a six-month test. If successful, it could result in big business for the future, writes financial daily newspaper Børsen.

The Grundfos innovation company Biobooster has developed a unique pressurised biofilm reactor (PBR) for the removal of dissolved organics which is much more compact and flexible than conventional wastewater technologies. As a result, the technology opens the way to developing smaller decentralised units that can treat wastewater locally, rather than at a large central plant which requires major investments in pipe networks.

Jacob Andersen, a manager at Hjørring water Utility in Jutland told Børsen that he sees considerable potential in the technology: "Until now it's been about centralisation at any price. But the world is changing rapidly, and so is the technology for wastewater management. I am certain that the technology will move quickly and that decentralisation will be a worthwhile competitor to investing in large-scale traditional wastewater plants."

The Biobooster plant at Bjerregrav is the first full scale PBR plant built in containerised modules. These can be scaled up or down as required, and being containerised, can easily be delivered to the exact spot where they are most needed. Flexibility is a keyword with the technology, which is reckoned to have considerable international potential because the plant can be shipped anywhere in the world where water is a scarce resource

85 countries give support to the Copenhagen Accord*
Most major nations have given their support to the Copenhagen Accord which resulted from the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

Most of the major nations have given their support to the Copenhagen Accord which resulted from the UN Climate Change Conference COP15 in Copenhagen last December. The deadline for submitting climate targets was 31 January, and 55 countries have duly obliged, writes the Danish Energy Association in its daily newsletter.

85 out of the 194 signatories to the 1992 Climate Convention may not sound like a whole lot, but the UN points out that these countries represent 78% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

A number of industrialised countries have submitted the climate targets for 2020, including the USA, EU, Russia, Japan, Australia, Canada and Norway. And a number of development countries have sent in information on their national plans. These include China, India, South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea and the Maldives.

The next programmed meeting is "COP15 bis" scheduled to take place in Bonn, Germany, in May/June.

*Source: Climate and Energy Ministry of Denmark, February 3rd, 2010

Novo Nordisk slashes CO2 output
Company beats its own targets for lowering emissions of greenhouse gases five years ahead of schedule

Pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has managed to lower its CO2 emissions by 30 percent despite significantly increasing production. The reduction is so large that the company has now reached its goal for cutting greenhouse gas emissions five years ahead of target, reports trade journal Ingeniøren.

A target of a 10 percent reduction by 2014 was set in 2004 and, even though the company produced more insulin during the period, the target was easily reached ahead of schedule.

The company has now embarked on a drive to further reduce its CO2 emissions at all of its global locations. The reductions were achieved by a combination of turning off air conditioning at its facilities during the night, exploiting waste heat and improving production cooling processes.

Administrative director Lars Rebien Sørensen told trade publication Ingeniøren that environmental accountability was a cornerstone of Novo Nordisk’s business model.

Denmark develops plans to store wind energy in Norway
A new electricity cable between Denmark and Norway will be used to store surplus electricity from Danish wind farms as potential energy in Norway's hydropower reservoirs

Energinet.dk and Statnett, which respectively operate the national electricity grids in Denmark and Norway, have decided to build a new electricity cable between the two countries, writes the Danish Energy Association in its daily newsletter. The purpose of the cable is to enable Denmark to store surplus electricity generated by its wind farms as potential energy in Norway's hydropower reservoirs.

"The cable will help ensure better utilisation of wind energy in line with the expansion of wind power in Denmark. We can simply send more wind power to Norway when the wind rises strongly, and we can get hydropower from Norway when the wind drops to nothing," comments Energinet.dk divisional director Torben Glar Nielsen, who adds that the cable will also strengthen energy supply security and electricity market competition, to the benefit of consumers.

Several Danish municipalities are now being invited to present proposals on how the new cable, called Skagerrak 4, can be planned in detail. The cable is expected to become operational in 2014 assuming the necessary official approvals are obtained from the two countries.

There are already three electricity cables between Denmark and Norway with a total capacity of 1,000 MW. The Skagerrak 4 cable will increase it by 700 MW to 1,700 MW

New York Times gets interested in what Danes do with their garbage
NYT is to interview a municipal mayor and the boss of a waste incineration plant to find out more about the Danish model of waste management

Over the years Denmark has developed a particular talent for waste management, and has crystallized its thinking into what is now referred to as the "Danish model".

The core of the model is a mindset – that waste is viewed as an asset, not a liability. So first comes recycling to recover material value; if there is nothing recyclable then waste is combusted to extract valuable energy; and only if neither of these options apply is waste dumped. And there is a commensurate tariff of municipal charges to encourage compliance, scaled from no tax for recycling to a maximum tax for dumping. And experience shows that the model works.

Now word of the Danish model, or at least the combustion part of it, has reached the editorial ears of that illustrious journal the New York Times, writes Energy Supply. Indeed, NYT has become interested enough in the Danes' special relationship with garbage to interview the mayor of Hørsholm, a relatively well-heeled township north of the capital Copenhagen, as well as Morten Slotved, the board chairman of the local waste incineration unit, on the subject.

Morten Slotved explained to regional newspaper Frederiksborg Amts Avis that New York currently takes a very different approach to waste management: "In New York they load all their waste into trucks and drive it to Ohio, about 1,000 kilometers away. There they dump the waste in a big hole and forget about it." Slotved goes on to say that the Americans are curious over how it can be legal in Denmark and other European countries to site a waste incineration plant right next to neighborhoods where the wealthy reside.

Readers of the New York Times can look forward to discovering the answer to this question, and finding out how Hørsholm lives well and breathes easily with a plant on its doorstep that incinerates up around 140,000 tons of locally-produced garbage every year.

Danes get four shots at Oscar
Although two Danish-affiliated films were nominated for ‘Best Picture’, it is a documentary on Myanmar that has the best chance of winning

This year’s Academy Award nominations included four films that could bring the award into Danish hands.

After doubling the number of nominees for ‘Best Picture’ from five to 10 this year, most experts believe Lone Scherfig’s film ‘An Education’ was one that clearly benefited from the field being expanded.

The movie also boasts nominations within the ‘Best Actress’ category (Carey Mulligan) and the ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ category (Nick Hornby), although those nominees are both British.

‘An Education’ is the first Danish-directed film ever to be nominated in the ‘Best Picture’ category. Bille August’s ‘Pelle the Conquerer’ and Gabriel Axel’s ‘Babettes Feast’ both won Oscars as ‘Best Foreign Film’, however.

Another Danish-affiliated film nominated as ‘Best Picture’ is ‘Precious’, whose co-producer is Asger Hussain.

In the ‘Best Short Film’ category, the 21 minute-long ‘The New Tenants’, directed by Joachim Back, received a nomination.

Back, who like Hussain now lives in New York City, said the nomination itself is a huge honour.

‘Just being nominated means that the world’s talent scouts are looking at you,’ he said. ‘And it’s common that this results in you getting offers from the large studios. If I win, then it would be even bigger and better.’

Anders Østergaard’s documentary ‘Burma VJ’, which chronicles the efforts by Burmese journalists covering the 2007 demonstrations, was also nominated for an Oscar in its category.

Experts believe that ‘Burma VJ’ has the best chance to win its category, while they generally agree Scherfig’s film has little chance.

The Academy Awards ceremony takes place on 7 March in Hollywood.
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The news is presented by The Copenhagen Post and does not reflect the official policies and opinions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Redigeret 5. februar 2010