Danish Exports

Hvidovre – 16th May

Due to a howling Norwester, or in the Northern Hemisphere that could be a Soueasterly, the weather was unsuitable for walking tour adventures. Instead we stayed home and did some research on Denmark’s exports and then went to visit the power station near our apartment.

Denmark’s top 5 exports are (Based on 2022 statistics):

  • Packaged medications US$15 billion (US$21 billion in 2023)
  • Electricity
  • Refined Petroleum
  • Pig meat
  • Vaccines, antiserums, cultures, etc

Electricity

Denmark’s Green Energy Policy is to be fossil fuel free by 2050 and for all of its electricity generation to be from renewable energy sources by 2030. This week, according to the reported stats, Denmark has produced enough electricity from solar and wind energy to meet 100% of the country’s demand. With Denmark being flat and surrounded by sea there is plenty of wind and at this time of year plenty of sun or in Zealand there is. Scandinavia’s biggest wind farm can supply 600,000 homes with power; it is situated in the sea more than 15kms off the coast of Denmark.

The country was burning coal to generate power however they gave themselves a deadline of 2024 to stop. The power plant near us generates electricity and heat from biomass, which is residue wood by-products from sawmills, that is not in demand elsewhere, and is from sustainably managed forests. When there are power outages, the company can supply heat to those who need it.

Denmark passed a law in 1985 prohibiting power production in Denmark from nuclear energy; they do however import nuclear energy.  

Photo – Biomass power plant seen from our apartment 5km away

Medication

As previously posted Denmark has an extensive healthcare system and provides free doctor’s appointments, hospital care, aged care, and emergency services in exchange for high taxes. I’m trying to imagine NZ providing free doctors fees, you can’t get a GP appointment at the exorbitant costs they charge now, if it was free the wait times would be months out. They also provide subsidised pharmaceuticals, the scheme is too complicated to explain but most households probably get their meds for free, and so they should considering the money Denmark makes from exporting pharmaceuticals.

Pig Meat

While driving around 3 of Denmark’s biggest islands I haven’t noticed any livestock farms with animals outside enjoying the fresh air and lush green grass. Apparently most of Denmark’s pigs are reared in indoor production systems. We haven’t tried any pork yet, but I have read a few comments that it is disgusting because so many generations of the animals have been raised indoors and therefore do not have the flavour that we would be used to in NZ. We buy meat with animals on the label so that we know what we are getting. The packaging is also clear how much fat is in the beef, unlike NZ who labels it prime, premier or just beef mince.

Enough about Denmark’s exports, we did actually do something else constructive during our day; we went into the woods on a troll hunt. Thomas Danbo and his team of volunteers make large wooden trolls and hide them in nature to encourage you to get out of the house and explore. The sculptures are gigantic and made from recycled materials and scrap wood.  The lady in the photo is No.17 called ‘Hilltop Trine’, her hair is made from branches and her body from recycled pellets. We found her in a local park which has bush walking, community gardens and a small petting farm.

Our lunch today was yet another variety of sausage, it’s a Danish thing, this time the vendor was German and insisted we try sausage and chips the German way; why not, we have German number plates. 

The German way is chips, chopped up sausage, heavy handed salt, chilli sauce and raw onion on top. I protested at the raw onion, he protested he couldn’t serve it without onion or it wouldn’t be German, so we compromised and the onion was fried until all the moisture was removed. It was pretty disgusting and we didn’t finish it.

[Ed – so much salt! It should have come with two steins]

Today’s ABBA tribute is just the song title ‘Keep an eye on Dan’ (2021). 

A number of companies use Dan as part of their company name i.e. Dan Air, Dan is short for Danske which is the Danish word for Danes, in Danish Denmark is spelt Danmark. I chose this song because the world is apparently keeping an eye on Denmark and their Green Energy Policies and production. Denmark has been considered the cleanest country in the world due to their leading innovation in renewable energy production and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.