Danish Energy Efficiency Policy: Revisited and Future Improvements

Ten groups of policy instruments for promoting energy efficiency are actively used in Denmark. Among these are the EU instruments such as the CO₂ emissions trading scheme and labelling of appliances, labelling of all buildings, combined with national instruments such as high taxes especially on households and the public sector, obligations for energy companies (electricity, natural gas, district heating, and oil) to deliver documented savings, strict building codes, special instructions for the public sector, and an Electricity Saving Trust.

A political agreement from 2005 states that an evaluation of the entire Danish energy efficiency policy portfolio must be carried out before end 2008 and put forward for discussion among governing parties no later than February 2009. A consortium comprising Ea Energy Analyses, Niras, the Department of Society and Globalisation (Roskilde University) and 4-Fact was assigned with this task. The evaluation aimed to answer the crucial questions:

• Is the overall design of the portfolio of instruments appropriate?
• Does the impact of the instruments justify the costs, so that we reach the national goals in a cost efficient way?
• Will the current instrument portfolio be able to meet the required reduction in final energy consumption (goal for 2013) and in primary energy consumption (with goals in 2011 and 2020) as planned by parliament?

Recommendations were made on how to improve and develop the portfolio using cost effectiveness as well as organisational clarity as criteria in developing the recommendations. The evaluation was completed in December 2008, and this paper presents the main findings and proceeds to discuss the issues from an EU perspective.