Denmark has joined the club of European countries that have planned to become much more or completely reliant on renewable sources for their energy needs. The country plans to have 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2050, and to eliminate fossil fuels in vehicles by that deadline too.

Denmark already relies on wind turbines for 40% of its energy needs and plans to reach 50% by 2020, according to an article in Justmeans. The country also plans to add energy efficiency measures to the mix and expects to have a 7% reduction of its energy use rate in 2010 by 2020. A 20% cut in fossil fuel use is also planned by 2020.

While biomass as a power source is just finding its sea legs in the U.S., Denmark also plans to use it to replace a substantial amount of coal that has provided heating and electricity. The article said geothermal energy will be eligible for subsidies, as will energy efficient production, combined heat and power (cogeneration) and smart grid technologies.

The plan is not quite picture perfect. Denmark is finding out, as have others, that using coal, gas or nuclear plants only occasionally to fill in the gaps created by intermittent renewables output is not economical. Some power plants are being paid to provide power at a loss too.

But Denmark is looking at smart grid technologies and energy storage as at least part of the solution, and many are counting on widespread adoption of EVs which also could be used for additional energy storage.