DENMARK
The Danish government’s plan to invest at least DKK15 billion (US$2.2 billion) in green research and innovation in the period up to 2030 is aimed in part at speeding up the development of green technologies, bringing them out of laboratories and into society.
The new plan, Fast Forward to the Green Solutions of the Future, was announced in a joint press release on 11 October by Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund; Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs Morten Bødskov; Minister for Green Transition Jeppe Bruus; Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Jacob Jensen, and Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities Lars Aagaard.
They note that the government intends to “strengthen the four green research missions, CO2 capture, green fuels (PtX), agriculture and circular economy, with a new approach where there is a particular focus on getting new technology and new solutions out into society faster.
“Any barriers, for example, testing, documentation or coordination between authorities, must be resolved at the same time where possible,” they said.
As part of the plan, the government announced it will increase universities’ free research and innovation funds and long-term research capacity by DKK500 million in 2025.
An urgent challenge
Egelund described climate change as a challenge that could only be solved “with innovation and in collaboration with the country’s most talented researchers”.
Bødskov said: “In Denmark, we are frontrunners when it comes to developing solutions that will create a greener future. Just look at our strong industries in biosolutions and green energy. But many companies run up against a wall when new, green ideas need to get out of the laboratory and make a difference in reality. We must change that.”
Bruus said: “As the first country in the world to introduce a CO2 tax on agriculture, Denmark is now facing a very ambitious restructuring of our agricultural and food industry. Green research and technology is a core element in the transition, because it creates the concrete tools for agriculture to adapt and develop in a greener direction – also for many years to come.”
Strengthening research
According to Bruus the government’s allocation of DKK500 million to research and development would also help the agricultural sector to reduce the CO2 emission and thereby reduce the CO2 taxation that is to be introduced into the Danish agricultural sector in 2030.
In addition, the government will strengthen the Danish Centre For Environment And Energy at Aarhus University, that is doing research for the agricultural sector and other authorities, he said.
Jensen said the programme would help to come up with less bureaucratic and time-consuming procedures for the implementation of green technologies, which would contribute towards making the agriculture more sustainable and strengthen the position of Denmark as a “frontier agricultural country”.
Aagaard also emphasised the aim to cut the time in the development of technologies “from laboratories to real climate actions”.
Important and relevant
Professor Eskild Holm Nielsen, dean of the faculty of technical sciences at Aarhus University, which includes the Danish Centre for Environment and Energy, which is to receive earmarked funding in the announced programme, said the initiative from the Danish government was “very important and relevant”.
Holm Nielsen said: “The government will allocate funds for universities to test and further develop new technology on a large scale together with external partners, such as foundations or the private sector. This is crucial because large-scale tests can show when the new solutions we are researching, for example in biosolutions, are ready for commercial production.”
Economic robustness
Climate expert Monika Skadborg at the Danish Society of Engineers or IDA, told University World News a total investment by the government of DKK15 billion “sounded good” but in reality was a continuation of the ambition levels of last year and a reduction in relation to 2021.
“The robustness of the universities is challenged due to the changed balance between basic funds and external funding. The economic robustness of universities is a precondition for the long-term employment policy and the development of talents across academic fields and other tasks.
“Universities fulfil many different societal tasks in education, innovation and dissemination. This demands a multi-layered access to talents, so that recruitment is not only done by those who are good at securing external funding.
IDA will seek ways of recruiting more young talents for the green research and innovation funding towards 2030,” she said.
Long-term funding
Professor Katrine Krogh Andersen, dean at the faculty of science at the University of Copenhagen, said the continuation of Denmark’s high ambitions on green research was “very welcome”.
“Danish universities are heavily invested in green research and innovation, but research needs long-term funding. We are thus happy to see a continued investment in the four inno-missions. The government also proposes investments in other areas highlighted in the ‘Green Research Strategy’ from 2020, based on amongst others input from all universities.
“The strategy highlights many highly relevant initiatives within green research, technology development and infrastructure, but I hope that it will also prioritise public funding for new groundbreaking research and research within other areas that are necessary for a successful green transformation,” she said.
Lisbeth Lintz, president of the the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikerne), representing 490,000 members, told University World News Danish universities’ research and development was world class, and an investment of an additional DKK500 million each year to their free research and innovation was “instrumental to our ambitions for the future, not just in terms of the green transition but societal changes more generally”.
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