Denmark's $34 Billion Green Energy Island

if 34 billion dollars in capital investment would provide for the energy needs of 6 million people almost pollutant free would you do it that's the question denmark population of touch under that 6 million is currently answering with a resounding yes green energy as we all know is looking likely to be one of the keys to humanity's future if it's successful it will represent a societal change with implications for the whole planet while recycling your bottles and not leaving your tv on standby still has its place it's becoming increasingly clear that bigger sweeping changes are needed to redress the climate crisis in fact there have already been some mammoth projects in this area china's tengah desert solar park covers 16 square miles south korea uses an area of a similar size to produce energy from waves having built an artificial wall to create tidal power generating siwa lake the uk powers around 600 000 homes with a single large wind farm off its west coast and canada is set to open the world's biggest green hydrogen plant denmark though will be taking things one step further producing an entire offshore island with the sole aim of making a ginormous step in the country's drive towards green energy the island project the danish government favor will be 120 000 square meters in size roughly the same as 20 football fields and cost 34 billion to produce on three sides the island will be protected by high sea walls while the fourth side will offer docking space for boats needed to service the equipment it hosts and we do mean they are producing an island the artificial construction will be a large floating landmass located 50 miles off the danish coast where it will be tethered in a spot surrounded by wind turbines focused entirely on green energy it will initially produce enough electricity to power 3 million homes slightly more than denmark's current total of households 2.7 million still better that 3 million figure is only for phase 1 of the production in the long term the capacity to provide energy from the island is expected to grow to a level at which it can fuel more than nine million households that's an initial output of around three gigawatts of energy increasing to close to 10 gigawatts over time it's all part of a larger plan denmark's environmentally conscious government announced in early 2021 that they are to switch from being the eu's largest oil producer to totally phasing out fossil fuels by 2050. they're already refusing further permits to search for oil in their north sea territories the energy island is intended as the next step on top of the 40 of danish energy already produced with wind it will have multiple purposes one is to provide a hub for 200 plus wind turbines that will flank the main site turbines are more efficient when located in the sea as they can both be larger and make use of typically higher wind speeds the turbines will be huge individually they could match the 184 metre height of seattle's space needle as well as the positive effects they'll have on the environment there will be some downsides such as the impact of their production and they're eventually becoming obsolete some studies say that the structures provide refuge for fish and other sea creatures such as oysters and mussels once in place though of course they can also kill birds the huge amounts of wind energy produced around the island will be used largely to fuel a large green hydrogen plant with wind energy so abundant out in the sea it becomes efficient to split water molecules to release hydrogen using electricity the process for producing hydrogen from water is one of electrolysis essentially it involves passing current through the liquid which causes the water to react at the positively charged anode leaving behind oxygen gas and positively charged hydrogen atoms a permeable membrane between the two elements allows the hydrogen to pass back to the negatively charged cathode the net effect is the production of hydrogen gas at one end of the reaction and harmless oxygen at the other where the source of the electricity used to carry out the reaction is green as in the case of the wind turbines here the whole reaction is essentially free of greenhouse gases and other pollutants of course without the green energy production you'd still be swapping one form of energy for another the environmental damage would already have been done in the production of the electricity used in the electrolysis and you'd also lose some of that energy in inefficiencies in the reaction this particular clever combination limits environmental damage essentially to the facilities required to build turbines the island and associated requirements and does almost no damage through the energy production itself once produced in such a clean manner that hydrogen can be used in a number of different ways beyond just energy for houses that includes producing ammonia fuel that can be used to run ships in an environmentally efficient way and producing green fuel for aircraft the airplane fuel option is particularly attractive from a green perspective as while planes add a lot of carbon dioxide to the environment the production of fuel through this method can also draw carbon dioxide from air as part of the production process adding to the green benefits hydrogen produced on the island is also expected to be used in the longer term to fuel vehicles and industrial plants the offshore island could prove a big asset for denmark with long-term economic benefits as well as environmental ones neighboring sweden has already found a way to use waste to create fuel to such a degree that it now imports waste and exports fuel making money on both ends similarly denmark will be pumping its offshore island-produced fuel back to land as liquid in huge undersea pipes and can then fuel its own homes industry and transport but also export to the financial benefit of the country unlike its previous oil production the fuel could also fetch a premium as a green form of energy the netherlands and germany are said to be interested climate minister dan jorgensen said of the project the 10 gigawatts when this is finalized will be producing far far more clean energy than we can use as a country so this is part of a strategy to help other countries meet their targets he's also indicated that the state ultimately expects the project to be quite lucrative once the initial capital investment phase is over when it's complete the island will remain just over half state-owned but will also have some elements of private enterprise with 49 of the asset expected to be sold off this is still very much a long-term plan though currently the island is scheduled to be up and running by 2033 though many are already expressing doubts over whether that date is achievable the 51 state ownership is seen by jorgensen as a perfect compromise as it allows the use of private expertise but maintains overall state control even the beginning of construction is still years away with a planned 2026 start date following on from a search for investors and further technical planning as well as assessments of the environmental impact of the project itself and of the extent of interest among potential energy buyers at this early stage the exact location though known to be somewhere out to sea to the west of the country's jutland peninsula is being kept under wraps perhaps unsurprisingly this will be the most expensive construction product in danish history it's the next big step for the danish wind turbine industry professor jacob ostergaard of the technical university of denmark said we were leading on land then we took the step offshore and now we're taking the next step with energy islands so it'll keep the danish industry in a pioneering position denmark's green revolution is well underway already of course the country already generates more than 50 percent of the eu's entire wind energy there are strong laws around biodiversity sustainable forestry and sustainable fuels going forward an annual energy report will track the road to carbon neutrality which is a key policy target for 2050 it's not even denmark's only huge energy construction at the same time as agreeing to construct this island the country's politicians committed to a second project on a natural island called bornholm located in the baltic sea to the east of the country similarly dedicated to green energy production the aims are lofty jorgensen said of the broader project only by inspiring others and developing new green solutions they also want to use can we really do something to combat climate change would you like to see projects like this enacted where you live tell us in the comments and subscribe for much more on global technical innovations

Channel: VISION

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Keywords: renewable energy, green energy, energy, wind turbines, denmark island, artificial island, eco, renewable energy sources, renewable energy projects, green technology, green energy technology, green energy companies, green island, denmark renewable energy, denmark green energy, wind energy, water energy, electricity, innovations, Renewable energy

Id: 2GC3VcB0gLY

Length: 8min 1sec (481 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 23 2021