Critical Report Prompts Danes To Consider Tough Measures To Cut Energy Consumption

摘要

In the wake of a new report warning that Denmark's current energy-saving measures will not allow the nation to achieve its energy reduction targets, lawmakers are expected to introduce tough new measures to reduce consumption. The report follows an October 2008 analysis by the European Environmental Agency that reached similar conclusions. According to the report, which was commissioned by the nation's Climate and Energy Ministry and released Dec. 12, the center-right government has miscalculated future energy savings in a number of areas, including a "green certification" plan for buildings and the effect of voluntary measures taken by private utility companies. A Jan. 5 statement issued by one of the report's authors, the consultancy company EA Energy Analysis, urges the government to prioritize radical new energy-saving measures for both business and household buildings. Danish lawmakers debated such measures Jan. 13, as a prelude to a new law being presented to parliament. Lars Christian Lilleholt, energy spokesman for Denmark's ruling Liberal Party, said in a Jan. 3 statement that the government is "open to all possibilities"-implying that compulsory energy reduction targets for both households and businesses would form part of the debate.