By Henrik Rytter Jensen

On February 24, 2006 Denmark received its first Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project registered at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The CDM project was developed by Danish Energy Management in Malaysia and is earning its carbon credits by instaling a biomass fired boiler to replace oil-fired boilers.
As biomass is a renewable energy source, the carbon emissions from combustion are neutral, whereas oil is a fossil fuel that leads to an increase in the global carbon emissions. The owner of the new biomass boiler plant is a palm oil refinery in Lumut, Malaysia and the boiler is supplied by ENCO/Vølund.
 
The CDM project involved development of documentation for registration. The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Malaysian project owner entered into an Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement in 2005, which enables the Danish Government to buy the carbon credits from the project and secures the project owner additional revenue. The technical assistance has been provided by Danish Energy Management and funded by Danida. The two consultants in charge of the work are Thirupathi Rao and Henrik Rytter Jensen from the Danish Energy Management Kuala Lumpur office.
 
This is a major milestone in the Danish Climate Change strategy and shows that there is a momentum in the CDM. It is the first and only CDM project Denmark has approved and now it has reached its final registration. Hopefully this will increase the interest for the Danish CDM activities and also for the CDM consultancy services Danish Energy Management is providing.
 
Danish Energy Management is developing CDM projects in Malaysia and Thailand. In Malaysia, the work is focused on technical assistance to clients on development of the CDM project design, while in Thailand, Karsten Holm is assisting the Danish Embassy in identifying and developing projects.
 
Danish Energy Management has also provided technical assistance to another CDM project for Lafarge Cement in Malaysia, which is currently in the process of being registered at UNFCCC and is expected to be approved by April 6, 2006. The carbon credits from this project will be sold to Lafarge Cement in France.
 
Denmark made a commitment to reduce the carbon emissions by 21% in 2012 compared to the level in 1990. This is one of the highest commitments in the world, since the average for the industrialised countries is approximately 6%.