One record after another. Denmark already tops every sustainability ranking, both environmental and social. Yet it refuses to rest on its laurels and, year after year, raises its ambitions in an effort to continue serving as an example — and above all as an inspiration — for other countries. In 2015, too, renewable energy generated by wind set a new annual record, covering 42.1 per cent of the northern European country's electricity demand.

The news was announced on Friday, and the figure supersedes the previous record of 39.1 per cent set in 2014. The Danish turbines located in the western regions alone generated enough electricity to "power" 1,460 hours out of a total of 8,760, according to Energinet spokesperson Carsten Vittrup.

"It was not uncommon — during 2015 — for wind energy production to exceed actual consumption in certain hours. But in the western part of the country, production peaks were reached that were more than 16 per cent higher," said Vittrup.

During those peaks, wind energy was exported to Norway, Sweden and Germany, and exchanged for hydroelectric power produced in Norway or solar energy from Germany when domestic production was insufficient. All of this within a perfect model of horizontal, democratic energy production that knows no borders: the smart grid, the intelligent network.

At a time when circular economy, efficiency and conservation are on everyone's lips, collaboration between European countries — and beyond — is essential if we are to continue developing a clean energy system that emits no greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and does not rely on fossil fuels: a 100 per cent renewable system. The figures bear this out. While in 2005 wind energy covered 18.7 per cent of global electricity consumption, by 2012 wind alone had reached 30 per cent.