Danish Island Becomes Energy Self-Sufficient in 8 Years

In the span of 8 short years, Samsø, a Danish island in the North Sea, has become entirely energy self-sufficient, by using a combination of wind energy, solar and other renewables. The transformation began in 1997 when the island won a grant to explore energy alternatives.

In the nineties, the island of 4,300 people imported all their energy, mostly in oil tankers, and paid little attention to where it came from. In a fascinating article in The New Yorker magazine, Elizabeth Kolbert reports that:

“Then, quite deliberately, the residents of the island set about changing this. They formed energy coöperatives and organized seminars on wind power. They removed their furnaces and replaced them with heat pumps. By 2001, fossil-fuel use on Samsø had been cut in half. By 2003, instead of importing electricity, the island was exporting it, and by 2005 it was producing from renewable sources more energy than it was using.”

This is a remarkable story of community. What was the process that transformed Samsø? Years of talking, educating and persuading, and the following:

• A leader who is motivated and knows the social relationships in the community
• Visits to every local meeting, no matter how small or on what issue, to discuss the project
• Willingness to make the project something that is fun and competitive with other communities (bringing free beer helps)
• Enlisting the support of the island’s opinion leaders

This is particularly relevant today, in light of Al Gore's call for American energy independence within ten years. The naysayers immediately declared the time-frame ridiculous and completely undoable. Samsø, proves them wrong. Think about it for one moment. A 50% reduction in fossil fuel use in just 5 years. What a different country -- and world -- we would be living in if we could achieve half of that.