As a result of the oil crisis in 1973 a visionary Danish policy on conversion of straw to energy was launched to decrease our energy dependency on oil. Consequently, Denmark holds a world leading position within this market today and innovation continues to this day to achieve the ambitious goal of a fossil free energy supply in 2050.
Initially, straw was mainly used by farmers for heat production, but today it is widely used as a biofuel in centralised and de-centralised combined heat and power plants. New technologies such as pyrolysis and production of 2nd generation biofuels makes it possible for straw to take a more flexible role in the energy supply of the future, combined with other renewable energy sources, and to fulfil the demand for more biofuel in the transport sector.
This publication provides an overview of technologies, innovative solutions and policy within straw for energy purposes in Denmark. It also contains a list of companies and organisations with particular skills and technologies in the supply chain from production, logistics, pre-treatment, conversion and utilisation.
The publication is available in English, Chinese and Russian.
"Straw to Energy - Status, Technologies and Innovation in Denmark 2011" was written as part of the project Network for Biomass to Energy", co-financed by the EU's Regional Development Fund and the Danish Agency for Science and Innovation, which included the following partners: Agro Business Park (project manager), Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Copenhagen (KU Life), AgroTech, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at Aarhus University and National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy at the Technical University of Denmark (Risø DTU).
Furthermore, the publication was supported by the project Enercoast with funding from the Interreg North Sea Region Programme and the Central Denmark Region. Finally, the Innovation Network for Biomass contributed with co-financing from the Danish Agency for Science and Innovation.
