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A green, windy, wheat-covered island floats in the North Sea. This remote, agricultural region of Denmark is home to 4,000 people; people who, until 1997, lived quietly with the world’s indifference. It is the 4,000 citizens of this 44 square mile island who have accomplished what world powers are struggling to do: Become self-sustainable in 10 years using renewable energy.
This is the story of Samso Island.
On Oct. 27, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) swelled with people pouring in to hear Samso native Soren Hermansen speak. As a high school environmental studies teacher in 1997, he was among the handful of visionaries who spearheaded the renewable energy initiative. Today, he acts as director for the Samso Energy Agency.
“You have magnificent, beautiful nature,” he praised those in attendance. “You have a lot of protection to do here.” Addressing an audience in awe, Hermansen offered his story as inspiration.
In 1997, Denmark, already a green leader, announced a national competition: A call for a viable plan to become carbon neutral and 100 percent energy self-sufficient. An earlier report entitled Energy 21 recommended that Denmark have a 35 percent coverage of renewable energy by the year 2030; the competition was created for the purpose of studying the feasibility of a defined area generating renewable energy by using existing technologies in a time frame of 10 years.
In absolutely secrecy, with only Samso’s mayor privy to his plans, a plucky engineer submitted his proposal, and much to the surprise of Samso citizens, in October of 1997 the island was named winner. Now they actually had to make the transformation.
That transformation had to begin with the public mindset. Being a small, remote, agriculturally-based island, Samso did not have much to offer young entrepreneurs. There was a steady stream of Samso citizens flowing out the door and towards the mainland in search of schooling and jobs. This move to clean energy had to promote local activity, meaning there would be no outsourcing of jobs. All contracts would remain within the local business community. Not only would this project generate employment but would also generate income for the island; their plan was not merely to become entirely self-sustainable, they intended to export clean energy as well.
For this project to take root, Samso needed a few things: Long–term agreements that would outlast a four-year election term and investment capital from local citizens, which Denmark and the European Union would match. Financing was also bolstered by bank loans and grants awarded by the Danish Energy Authority. This capital was used to hire all local business for contract work. Determined to keep jobs within the community, outside experts were called in to train Samso professionals in alternative energy installations.
To incite local support for the project, all planning was made public, available at the local library. An energy office was organized to host workshops, offer information and publicly announce any citizen’s green efforts.
Local task forces, led by the mayor and school headmaster, went door to door explaining the proposed heating plan. Samso would be installing district heating, which means instead of private stoves heating individual homes, there would be four central heating stations that pipe hot water to each house. Those stations would heat water with solar power and straw and wood-chip boilers. Farmers would supply the hay and wood, while mother nature would see to the rest.
Each household was retrofitted and paid $20 to join the district heating system. Currently, the annual fee is $300 (which goes to pay off the cost of installation) plus $85 per MW. The totally yearly island heating consumption fluctuates between 67 MW and 75 MW. Even though there is an approximate 20 percent heat loss in the pipes, the cost of energy is 1/8 that of oil. The stations cost between $1 – $4 million to build, and are owned by regional cooperatives, commercial operators and local consumers.
There were houses too far from the heating stations to join the district system. Refusing to leave them by the sidelines, these homes were installed with either solar panels, wood-chip boilers or bio-mass furnaces. Bio-mass furnaces burn diverse fuels such as corn, cardboard pellets, agri-pellets and cherry pits. Today, 75 percent of Samso’s heating is from renewable energy.
These determined Danes solved the heating question with renewable energy-powered heating stations, and the electricity problem with wind turbines.
Eleven wind turbines stand tall on Samso island, and the outlines of another 10 can be seen offshore. The on-land turbines generate the entire island’s electricity. The ones offshore compensate for transportation consumption with CO2-free energy and generate a surplus of electricity to be exported. Today, Danish feed-in-tariffs require 15 percent of energy to be renewable (by 2011 it will be 20 percent and 35 percent by 2030); Samso supplies the nation with its clean energy.
The total construction costs were around $55 million, but these turbines represent an investment, one in which many were eager to take part. 5 of the 10 on-land turbines are owned by the municipal government, which re-invests profits into further green projects. Three are owned by local farmers and two are owned by cooperatives of 430 shareholders. On average, people bought 5 shares at $600 each and currently receive 7 to 8 percent dividends.
Hermansen has said, “We are not suggesting everyone makes the sweeping changes that we have. The crucial point is that we have shown that if you want to change how we generate energy, you have to start at the community level.” What can we do as a community to work towards sustainability?
“I think one thing to take away from Soren’s story is that everyone, from households to local businesses to innovative turbine cooperatives, was invested,” said Clean Energy Economy Director Alice Hubbard Laird, a sponsor of ACES’ Samso event. “We need to replicate that system.”
Ashlee’s e-mail is afairey@snowmasssun.com
This is the story of Samso Island.
On Oct. 27, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) swelled with people pouring in to hear Samso native Soren Hermansen speak. As a high school environmental studies teacher in 1997, he was among the handful of visionaries who spearheaded the renewable energy initiative. Today, he acts as director for the Samso Energy Agency.
“You have magnificent, beautiful nature,” he praised those in attendance. “You have a lot of protection to do here.” Addressing an audience in awe, Hermansen offered his story as inspiration.
In 1997, Denmark, already a green leader, announced a national competition: A call for a viable plan to become carbon neutral and 100 percent energy self-sufficient. An earlier report entitled Energy 21 recommended that Denmark have a 35 percent coverage of renewable energy by the year 2030; the competition was created for the purpose of studying the feasibility of a defined area generating renewable energy by using existing technologies in a time frame of 10 years.
In absolutely secrecy, with only Samso’s mayor privy to his plans, a plucky engineer submitted his proposal, and much to the surprise of Samso citizens, in October of 1997 the island was named winner. Now they actually had to make the transformation.
That transformation had to begin with the public mindset. Being a small, remote, agriculturally-based island, Samso did not have much to offer young entrepreneurs. There was a steady stream of Samso citizens flowing out the door and towards the mainland in search of schooling and jobs. This move to clean energy had to promote local activity, meaning there would be no outsourcing of jobs. All contracts would remain within the local business community. Not only would this project generate employment but would also generate income for the island; their plan was not merely to become entirely self-sustainable, they intended to export clean energy as well.
For this project to take root, Samso needed a few things: Long–term agreements that would outlast a four-year election term and investment capital from local citizens, which Denmark and the European Union would match. Financing was also bolstered by bank loans and grants awarded by the Danish Energy Authority. This capital was used to hire all local business for contract work. Determined to keep jobs within the community, outside experts were called in to train Samso professionals in alternative energy installations.
To incite local support for the project, all planning was made public, available at the local library. An energy office was organized to host workshops, offer information and publicly announce any citizen’s green efforts.
Local task forces, led by the mayor and school headmaster, went door to door explaining the proposed heating plan. Samso would be installing district heating, which means instead of private stoves heating individual homes, there would be four central heating stations that pipe hot water to each house. Those stations would heat water with solar power and straw and wood-chip boilers. Farmers would supply the hay and wood, while mother nature would see to the rest.
Each household was retrofitted and paid $20 to join the district heating system. Currently, the annual fee is $300 (which goes to pay off the cost of installation) plus $85 per MW. The totally yearly island heating consumption fluctuates between 67 MW and 75 MW. Even though there is an approximate 20 percent heat loss in the pipes, the cost of energy is 1/8 that of oil. The stations cost between $1 – $4 million to build, and are owned by regional cooperatives, commercial operators and local consumers.
There were houses too far from the heating stations to join the district system. Refusing to leave them by the sidelines, these homes were installed with either solar panels, wood-chip boilers or bio-mass furnaces. Bio-mass furnaces burn diverse fuels such as corn, cardboard pellets, agri-pellets and cherry pits. Today, 75 percent of Samso’s heating is from renewable energy.
These determined Danes solved the heating question with renewable energy-powered heating stations, and the electricity problem with wind turbines.
Eleven wind turbines stand tall on Samso island, and the outlines of another 10 can be seen offshore. The on-land turbines generate the entire island’s electricity. The ones offshore compensate for transportation consumption with CO2-free energy and generate a surplus of electricity to be exported. Today, Danish feed-in-tariffs require 15 percent of energy to be renewable (by 2011 it will be 20 percent and 35 percent by 2030); Samso supplies the nation with its clean energy.
The total construction costs were around $55 million, but these turbines represent an investment, one in which many were eager to take part. 5 of the 10 on-land turbines are owned by the municipal government, which re-invests profits into further green projects. Three are owned by local farmers and two are owned by cooperatives of 430 shareholders. On average, people bought 5 shares at $600 each and currently receive 7 to 8 percent dividends.
Hermansen has said, “We are not suggesting everyone makes the sweeping changes that we have. The crucial point is that we have shown that if you want to change how we generate energy, you have to start at the community level.” What can we do as a community to work towards sustainability?
“I think one thing to take away from Soren’s story is that everyone, from households to local businesses to innovative turbine cooperatives, was invested,” said Clean Energy Economy Director Alice Hubbard Laird, a sponsor of ACES’ Samso event. “We need to replicate that system.”
Ashlee’s e-mail is afairey@snowmasssun.com
