State of Green

Air pollution from industry production

Buildings

Circular business models

+18

16 July 2025

Towards a sustainable industry

Industry stands at the centre of climate and resource challenges - now is the time to rethink how we produce. Discover solutions for competitive, efficient and resilient production in this white paper on "Towards a sustainable industry".

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Maria Lind Arlaud
Senior Project Manager (District Energy, Green Transition of Industries and Sector Coupling)

[email protected]

+45 4047 8004

Moving towards a sustainable industry

Around the world, industries are at the heart of both economic prosperity and the climate challenge. Accounting for a large share of global energy use, emissions and water consumption, industrial sectors face growing pressure from climate risks, resource constraints and shifting market demands. Decarbonising industry is essential to meeting climate goals, securing resources and building resilient economies—while opening new opportunities for competitiveness and growth.

Discover the white paper

This white paper covers insights into Denmark’s experience within energy, water and resource efficiency in industries ensuring sustainable industries. Deep diving into the industries of food & beverage, resource-intensive industry, manufacturing, life science and pharmaceutical, and industrial symbiosis, cases and solutions are presented to showcase efficiency measures across a wide range of industrial sectors.

We hope you will be inspired.

Key take-aways from the white paper:

Understand why decarbonising industry is essential for meeting global climate and resource challenges.
Discover how energy efficiency, electrification and excess heat utilisation drive down emissions and costs in industrial production.
Learn how circular water strategies and smart reuse strengthen industrial resilience and competitiveness.
Explore real-world examples from manufacturing, food & beverage, resource-intensive industries and more.
Gain insight into Denmark’s policy framework and public-private partnerships that enable a green and competitive industrial sector.

Download the publication

Explore articles from this publication

Empowering a green and competitive Danish industry

Driving business-led climate action in a fragmented world

The global imperative: Energy

The global imperative: Water

The competitive imperative

Driving resource efficiency with regulation

A new model for public-private climate action

Manufacturing industry

Food and agriculture industry

Building and construction industry

Resource intensive industry

Discover cases from this publication

Reduced energy and water use at large iron ore mine

FLS

Energy efficiency in industry

+4

Reduced energy and water use at large iron ore mine

Operating in the arid Pilbara region of Australia, a major iron ore mine faced the dual challenge of reducing its environmental footprint while maintaining high production levels. Traditional horizontal belt filter systems relied on vacuum pumps and air deck support structures—both energy- and water

Saving enough water for 500 homes

Grundfos

Energy efficiency in industry

+6

Saving enough water for 500 homes

Carlsberg Britvic produces 14 million cases of carbonated and still beverages a year. They were looking for new ways to reduce water use on its production sites in the UK. At the company’s bottling plant in the Beckton suburb of East London, the company saw a potential of reducing water in its bottl

Brewery skims 75 percent off energy use

Danfoss

Heat pumps

+4

Brewery skims 75 percent off energy use

Industries worldwide rely on energy both for process heating and for non-process heating, such as space and water heating. In the EU, 3% of the process heating is produced from electricity, while 78% is from fossil fuels. The fossil fuels for heating accounts for 22% of total net CO2 emissions from

Driving efficiency in steel use with advanced coatings

Hempel

Energy efficiency in industry

+2

Driving efficiency in steel use with advanced coatings

Steel is essential for heavy-duty transport and infrastructure but accounts for 7-9 percent of global CO₂ emissions. While highly recyclable, that process of recycling is still resource and energy-intensive. Therefore, enhancing steel durability is key to reducing environmental impact. Hempel custom

An electrifying solution for melting stone

ROCKWOOL Group

Energy efficiency in industry

+2

An electrifying solution for melting stone

Stone wool is arguably the best material for producing all types of insulation: It does not lose its insulation capability over time, it will not burn and it is endlessly recyclable. But – and it is a significant but – the process of turning it into insulation is energy-intensive. ROCKWOOL, a lead

Industrial excess heat used for district heating

Novonesis

Surplus heat from industry

+4

Industrial excess heat used for district heating

HOFOR (Greater Copenhagen Utility) supplies district heating (DH) to app. 670,000 customers in Copenhagen. HOFOR wants to have a competitive and CO2-neutral DH supply. Novonesis is a world-leading biosolutions partner, providing among others a wide range of industrial enzymes and microorganisms. In

Furniture manufacturer saves 30 percent on energy

ABB Denmark

Energy efficiency in buildings

+2

Furniture manufacturer saves 30 percent on energy

A report on energy consumption at Montana Furniture was the starting point for investments in energy optimisation. Montana needed better insight into where and for what they were using energy in the company to identify areas for optimisation and to reduce their consumption and CO2 footprint. Theref

90 percent gas reduction with CO2 heat pump

Advansor

Heat pumps

+2

90 percent gas reduction with CO2 heat pump

SBS Friction aims to have CO2-neutral production and become free from fossil fuels by 2025. Part of the plan is also to provide excess heating from the production to the grid so the local community can benefit from it. Since 2010, SBS has used heat pumps for process cooling, comfort heating, and ho

Automated CO₂ accounting strengthens climate strategy

Viegand Maagøe

Energy efficiency in industry

+3

Automated CO₂ accounting strengthens climate strategy

Carmo, a Danish manufacturer of plastic components primarily for the medical industry, sought to enhance its climate strategy by improving how it calculated the carbon footprint of its products. Manual calculations were time-consuming and lacked consistency, making it difficult to provide accurate,

Renewable heat on demand through molten salt storage

Hyme Energy

Energy storage

+4

Renewable heat on demand through molten salt storage

The transition to green energy is a critical challenge facing industries worldwide, particularly when it comes to securing stable, high-temperature heat. Today 90% of this heat, which is vital to industries like the food & beverage industry, is supplied by fossil fuels. As the EU ramps up CO2

Locally produced protein alternative to soy

SEGES Innovation

Efficient food production

+4

Locally produced protein alternative to soy

The agricultural company Vestjyllands Andel extracts protein from grass at Denmark’s first farm plant for biorefining of grass, Ausumgaard, in Northwest Jutland. The grass protein has the potential to replace imported soy from China and South America.

A symbiosis of wood, waste and energy exchange

VELUX

Industrial symbiosis

+3

A symbiosis of wood, waste and energy exchange

By 2030, VELUX aims to eliminate their operational (scope 1&2) emissions without using carbon offsets and halve their value chain (scope 3) emissions in absolute terms compared with 2020. This requires an ambitious and integrated approach across not just VELUX but also working closely with the