How Denmark's wind and solar investments shield it from global energy turmoil | PBS News
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How Denmark's wind and solar investments shield it from global energy turmoil
May 20, 2026 6:25 PM EDT
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Malcom Brabant
Malcom Brabant
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Trine Villemann
Trine Villemann
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The European Union’s climate commissioner has told the 27-country bloc that the only way out of energy crises fueled by the wars in Iran and Ukraine is homegrown energy, and that the EU must accelerate its transition away from fossil fuels. One country leading the charge towards green energy is Denmark. Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports for our series, Tipping Point.
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Amna Nawaz:
The European Union's climate commissioner has told the 27-country bloc that the only way out of energy crises fueled by the wars in Iran and Ukraine is homegrown energy and that the E.U. must accelerate its transition away from fossil fuels.<br>As special correspondent Malcolm Brabant tells us, one country leading the charge towards Korean energy is Denmark. It's part of our ongoing series Tipping Point.
Malcolm Brabant:
Wind turbines are a pet presidential peeve.
President Donald Trump:
They kill the birds, they ruin your landscapes. Other than that, I think they're fabulous, by the way.<br>(Laughter)
Donald Trump:
Stupid people buy them.
Malcolm Brabant:
At the Davos Economic Forum in January, the president doubled down.
Donald Trump:
There are windmills all over Europe. There are windmills all over the place and they are losers. One thing I have noticed is that the more windmills a country has, the more money that country loses and the worst that country is doing.
Malcolm Brabant:
Ready to be exported, these enormous wind turbine blades are a tangible fact-check of President Trump's claims. Denmark is consistently ranked in the world's top 10 economies, thanks in part to its expertise in exploiting green energy.<br>The industry employs 107,000 people and earns about $17 billion a year. So what is Denmark's response to the president's "stupid" jibe?
Kristian Jensen, CEO, Green Power Denmark:
Well, then there must be a lot of stupid people in the U.S., because there are a lot of states, companies and utilities in the U.S. that is actually buying wind turbines right now, because the price has come down. The price of power coming out of a wind turbine is cheaper than that of natural gas.
Malcolm Brabant:
Providing a human scale for these giant blades is Kristian Jensen, who was formerly Denmark's foreign minister. Now he runs a lobbying organization working to accelerate the fossil-free revolution.
Kristian Jensen:
So this is not a question of saving the polar bears. Don't look at the ideology. Look at the facts on the table. Solar is cheaper. Wind is cheaper. Electricity is more efficient than fossil energy. And if you look at that, it's a no-brainer to go into electrification of your businesses and your homes.
Malcolm Brabant:
The picturesque island of Aero in the Baltic Sea is a microcosm of what Denmark projects as its sustainable future.<br>An hour's ferry ride from the mainland, Aero hosts 6,000 permanent residents and a quarter-of-a-million tourists in the summer. Denmark is at the cutting edge of green technology because it's been pushing the boundaries for more than half-a-century. After two major oil crises in the 1970s, the Danes decided that self-sufficiency and energy security were top priorities.<br>Now that foresight is paying dividends, especially in Aero, which, thanks to its wind farm and other green projects, is reasonably insulated against shortages and price rises caused by the conflict in the Persian Gulf.<br>Rune Schmidt leads Aero's initiatives on sustainability and environmental conservation.<br>So how much do you think that the -- this conflict in the Middle East has actually highlighted the need for self-sufficiency?
Rune Schmidt:
I think the conflict has made it more important than ever. On an annual basis, we are a net exporter of electricity. We produce much more than we can consume.
Donald Trump:
Perhaps the greatest hoax in history, the green new scam, windmills all over the place destroy your land, destroy your land. Every time that goes around, you lose $1,000. You're supposed to make money with energy, not lose money.
Malcolm Brabant:
Another pioneering Danish island, Samso, fact-checked the president during this past particularly windy winter. Samso exported excess electricity, to the value of $39,000 a day, or a quarter-of-a-million dollars a week.<br>Back on Aero, Social Democrat Mayor Peter Hansted acknowledges...