Summer heatwave takes a visible toll on Denmark • Earth.com

Summer heatwave takes a visible toll on Denmark

07-26-2018


Summer heatwave takes a visible toll on Denmark Today’s Video of the Day from the European Space Agency shows the impact of an intense heatwave in Denmark, where the lush green vegetation that is visible last July appears completely scorched this year.

Blazing temperatures and a lack of rainfall have had a similar effect across other regions of Europe as well, providing fuel for wildfire outbreaks in the UK, Sweden, and Greece.

These two images were captured from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission over agricultural fields near the town of Slagelse, Denmark, on July 2017 and July 2018. A main focus in Denmark is to reuse heat that would otherwise be wasted, for example by utilizing waste heat from power production. Moreover, more than half of DH in Denmark is produced from renew-able energy and waste-to-energy.

As a result, Denmark decided to expand the fuel-efficient combined heat and power system from large cities to medium and small-sized cities. In the late 1970’s, around 30 pct. of all homes in the larger Danish cities were heated by district heating systems. In 2014 the production of district heating in Denmark amounted to 121,5 PJ.  The power plants are a key part of the city’s plan to be net-zero carbon by 2025. They are connected to Greater Copenhagen’s district heating (DH) system.  Summer heatwave takes a visible toll on Denmark as shown above in video showing the heat waves that have crossed through Denmark. Therefore the vegetation starts to brown up and the surround terrain get very dry and can make for a easier way for forest fires to start. The 21 local authorities are responsible for the least cost heat supply planning of the system in accordance with the Heat Supply Act

By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Video Credit: European Space Agency

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