Halfway across the world from Denmark, Henrik Lund brought decades of Danish energy planning experience, and the broader mission of iDesignRES, to Ho Chi Minh City for the International Conference on Emerging Technologies for Energy & Environment (ICETE2), held from 13 to 15 April 2026.

His plenary keynote, “Danish Energy Strategies: From the Oil Crisis to Resilient Climate-Neutral Societies,” traced Denmark’s energy trajectory from the shocks of the 1970s oil crisis through to its current position as a global reference for wind power, district heating, and integrated smart energy systems. ICETE2 describes itself as a forum for academics, researchers, and practicing engineers working on sustainable energy and environment systems worldwide, combining virtual and onsite sessions, plenary talks, and specialized workshops, including a dedicated track on water issues.

An estimated 200 to 300 people from the scientific community and industry attended, making this one of Lund’s larger audiences on this particular speaking tour. The Danish case is often cited internationally precisely because it shows that a country with almost no domestic fossil fuel production of its own could still build energy independence and resilience through policy consistency stretched over fifty years, the same long-term, integrated logic that iDesignRES applies at pan-European scale through its open-source planning tools.