Denmark considers phasing out coal by 2025

Denmark should ban coal use by 2025 to make the Nordic nation a leader in fighting global warming, adding to green measures ranging from wind energy to bicycle power, Denmark's climate minister said on Saturday.

Denmark has already taken big steps to break reliance on high-polluting coal - wind turbines are set to generate more than half of all electricity by 2020 and 41 percent of people in Copenhagen cycle to work or school, higher than in Amsterdam.

"The cost (of phasing out coal) would not be significant," Climate, Energy and Building Minister Helveg Petersen said of a proposal he made this week to bring forward a planned phaseout of all coal use to 2025 from 2030.

Denmark imports 6 million metric tons of coal each year from world markets, mainly Russia. A coal ban would coincidentally cut dependence on Moscow for energy.

The Danish Energy Association, representing energy firms, said a faster phaseout of coal would bring risks that wind turbines could not meet demand on calm days. Coal now generates about a third of Danish electricity.

'Bill to pay'

"There will be a bill to pay," said Anders Stouge, deputy head of the association. Petersen said that some coal-fired plants could shift to burning wood as a backup.

Governments can keep climate change in check at manageable costs but will have to cut greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2100 to limit fast-worsening risks, a UN report showed on Sunday.

The 40-page synthesis said global warming was now causing more heat extremes, downpours, acidifying the oceans and pushing up sea levels.

"Science has spoken. There is no ambiguity in the message. Leaders must act, time is not on our side," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in presenting the report in Copenhagen that is meant to guide global climate policy-making.

Reuters - AP