. Earth Science News .
Denmark aims to introduce bio-ethanol by end of 2007
COPENHAGEN, Jan 4 (AFP) Jan 04, 2007
The Danish government wants to introduce bio-ethanol in petrol and diesel by the end of 2007, a spokesman for the ruling Liberal Party told Danish television TV2 News on Thursday.

The plan is part of the centre-right government's long-term energy strategy for 2025 due to be presented soon.

The government plans to add two percent bio-ethanol to petrol and diesel by the end of the year, before raising the level to six percent in 2010, according to the Liberal Party spokesman on energy issues, Lars Christian Lilleholt.

"The goal is to make Denmark more 'green' and to adapt our transport sector progressively, reasonably and in a financially profitable way so that it uses more bio-fuels," he said.

The increased use of bio-ethanol will enable Denmark to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, in particular from politically unstable regions, and to pursue other alternatives, such as wind power, a field where Denmark is a world leader.

The transport sector accounts for 60 percent of the petrol used in Denmark. The country is self-sufficient owing to its oil reserves in the North Sea, but "there will come a day when that will no longer be the case," Lilleholt said.

The Danish government had until now been opposed to the use of first generation bio-ethanol, arguing that the environmental benefits were limited and preferring to wait for the second generation of bio-ethanol currently under development.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.