Anders Eldrup

President of DONG Energy Denmark

"It is not too late to stop climate change, but we need to act now. We must reduce carbon emissions quickly and over time eliminate carbon emissions from energy production completely. In the coming years we need to add much more renewable energy. We also need to reduce CO2 emissions from thermal power-plants, which we will be dependent on for many decades to come to guarantee a safe supply of energy. Finally we need to continue energy savings to curb demand. It is not the first time we are faced with challenges due to our consumption of energy. But we have solved them before and we can do again".

Anders Eldrup is CEO of DONG Energy, one of Northern Europe's leading energy companies. He joined DONG in 2001 as CEO, where he headed the growth strategy that led, among other things, to the merger of six Danish energy companies into DONG Energy. Prior to joining DONG, Anders Eldrup served as Permanent Secretary of State in the Ministry of Finance for 10 years. Anders Eldrup received his MA in Political Science in 1972.

DONG Energy is active along the entire energy value chain from procurement, through production and, trade to distribution. DONG Energy serves more than 1 million customers in Northern Europe, and operates offshore oil and natural gas platforms, thermal power plants as well as on and offshore wind farms.

DONG Energy recognizes the responsibility for procuring and producing energy in as environmentally friendly a manner as possible. The long term vision is to produce energy without carbon dioxide. To achieve this goal DONG Energy pursues a strategy of three dimensions.

More renewable energy

DONG Energy constantly works to develop renewable energy and is a world leader in design, construction and operation of offshore wind farms. The goal is to triple the renewables capacity by 2020. In the same way DONG Energy works to reduce emissions from the transportation sector, which is a major emitter of carbon dioxide.

Replacing diesel and petrol in the transport sector with bioethanol is one way to reduce emissions. DONG Energy has developed a promising second generation bioethanol technology that transforms residual agricultural products such as straw into bioethanol. Another way to increase the share of renewable energy is the electrification of the transport sector, for instance with electrically powered cars. At night, when general power consumption is low, the battery of the car can serve as a storage point of excess wind energy. In this way, the electrical car paves the way for more wind energy. DONG Energy is focused on turning the electrical car into the way of transportation of the future.

The emissions-free power plant

A key objective for DONG Energy is to constantly reduce, and over time completely eliminate, CO2 emissions from thermal power plants. From 1990 to 2007, CO2 emissions from overall power production were reduced by around 30 % per kWh generated. A benchmark developed by an independent third party has shown that DONG Energy is to be counted among the most effective power operators in Europe.

Similarly, DONG Energy is at the forefront of the development of multi-fueled power plants and we specialize in using extensive quantities of waste and biomass, such as straw or wood pellets, in the power plants

Another key initiative is CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage). The idea behind CCS is to capture CO₂ from power-plant exhaust gases and store it deep underground - where it originally came from as oil or coal. DONG Energy is joining forces with a large number of European partners in a project aimed at developing technology that can absorb CO2 from flue gases.

Energy efficiency

Energy efficiency represents a major emissions reduction opportunity. After all, the cleanest energy is the energy we do not use. The potential is to a large extent left unexploited by companies and societies regardless of the fact that the economic gains from energy efficiency often outweighs costs of implementing them.

DONG Energy recognizes the importance of making its extensive knowledge about the entire energy area available to the customers by offering energy efficiency advices to individuals and companies. Besides suggesting energy savings, DONG Energy has entered into a number of climate partnerships with several major private and public organizations. DONG Energy advises the partners on how to become more energy efficient, in this way creating the financial surplus that permits the partners to be powered by renewable energy.

To fight climate change a variety of innovative technologies and measures is needed. Only in this way is it feasible to achieve the long-term goal of providing reliable energy without CO₂.