A Sustainable Energy Community | Samsoe Island

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For many of us the discussion of how renewable energy production will save the world is now a fully hyped, media-ized, politicized and even debunked subject.  As the global drama unfolds, silently these technologies have been employed in many countries, far before our free fall into this convergent energy/climate crisis.

We can't say we've had a lack of resources or know how about using smarter energy solutions, but the true crisis is that in many developed countries we have endured a lack of management and attention from leaders, who decided economic might should be pursued at the cost of all else. Capitalism you could say, an idea based on there not being enough of everything to go around, has been the true plight. We may yet have to endure the lunacy of carbon trading - which so far seems to be serving only to showcase the wrong thinking that got us in this predicament to begin with.

Although ever tempting to bemoan and gripe about what's not working, it is more useful to look forward, listen to the solution developers and pay close attention to the progress being made that shows us undeniably we can survive without oil.

Cooperation and alliances have occurred effortlessly in many forms around the world this year, albeit even simply in an effort to acknowledge our failures and address the crisis together. There have been leaders who recognized the impending crisis over a decade ago, even as far back as the 70's, who have been successful in guiding their country's energy habits wisely. A great example of such passion and thoughtful foresight can be seen exemplified in the sustainable energy community of Samsoe Island, Denmark.

Biomass, solar and wind energy have been powering the island that once relied on coal and oil.  Their 10 year plan, started in 1998, set in motion the creation of a 100% renewable energy island. The island is home to around 4150 inhabitants that receive power from 11 wind turbines and 4 sustainable energy heating plants. The island is 44 square miles in area and known for it's strawberry and potato crops.

Not only are they providing sustainable energy for the island they also operate 10 Offshore Wind Turbines that feed the Danish Grid. Each turbine has the capacity to generate 2.3 megawatts of power. With the goal being a 100% sustainable energy island, they had not been able to entirely eliminate oil from their transportation needs, including the ferries needed to get on and off the island. To compensate until a functional solution is fully in place they chose to create green energy to offset what they used in oil and gas.  Investment has come from residents of the island, the European Union, the Danish Ministry of the Environment and private investors.

The island is also home to the Samsoe Energy Academy a hub for pretty much anyone with an interest in learning more about renewable energy and sustainable communities. Politicians, tourists and developers come the center for workshops and exhibits. The contribution Samsoe provides to the rest of the world is simply that it can be done. We can live sustainably using renewable energy. If clean energy projects are dealt with on a smaller community scale, perhaps we could get more accomplished than creating monolithic solar farms. This is important insight, the value of community integration and solutions on a human scale.                                           

photo credits: ecav
bottom right: Samsoe Energy Academy