Danish Island Is Energy Self-Sufficient

Samso Is An Ecological Fantasy Land That Is Carbon-Neutral

(CBS)  It's a two-hour ferry ride to the Danish island of Samso — and it can seem like a trip back through time.

But if you look more closely, to visit Samso is to see the future, CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reports.

Samso is an area about 40 square miles long with a permanent population of about 4,000 — all of them living a green dream.

Take farmer Erik Andersen. His tractor runs on oil from rape seed, which he grows. His hot water and power come from his solar panels or wind turbines. There's not a fossil fuel in sight.

"It's a very good feeling because the island is a renewable energy island," Anderson says.

Ten years ago, Andersen and the people of Samso accepted a challenge from Denmark's government: Could they run their farms; could they power their businesses; could they lead their lives in an entirely energy self-sufficient and carbon-neutral way?

Now they have the answer. They can.

"Because it's a good idea for the environment," Andersen explains.

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Only On The Web: Watch more of Mark Phillips' interview with Samso farmer Erik Andersen.

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To harness the wind, of which they have plenty, they built wind turbines. To harness public good will, they sold shares in those turbines to the islanders so the machines produce local power and local profits.

To provide heat, they burn locally grown straw in central plants that produce super hot water and pump it through underground pipes into peoples' homes.

It's not only more efficient than running individual furnaces, it's carbon neutral. The net greenhouse gas emissions from these plants? Zero.

It's a system that just recycles itself, says Jens Peter Nielson with the Samso Energy Authority.

Can it be that simple? It can seem like an ecological fantasy island on a bleak day on the windswept rock, sitting in an icy sea. But even after a freezing cold night, the days short and cloudy, the solar-heated hot water is still hot.

The Samso scheme has become so successful that the island has installed a string of turbines offshore to make surplus power to sell to the mainland.

Like a lot of people living in Samso, Andersen is invested in the new wind farm.

"Then I make money, you know, on a good idea," he explains.

It's a new dawn on this small island in Denmark, where they set out to do good, and have ended up doing very well for themselves, indeed.

[psbilyeu]

This island is an inspiration to us all. They are even using rapeseed oil (a.k.a. canola oil) as a biodeisel. Do you think there is a community in the US with the determination to accomplish this? This was a 10 year initiative by Denmark that is ahead of schedule--govenors-mayors--city planners--are you listening? These are real global warming solutions already working.

[writer621]

What a great interview...and I couldn't believe how "***" Mark Phillips looks in a Danish shower.
Go, Mark!!!

Carole Hemingway
South Freeport, Maine

[random_radar]

This is a great story. Particularly the fact that the people did it of their own free will the way they thought best. And they are profiting from their ingenuity. Nothing motivates like the desire to better one's circumstances.

[hawksprings]

Wow, what novel ideas. Maybe Mr. Gore could consider doing something similar for his Mansion and other homes he owns.
But I think he likes just telling the rest of us what to do instead of doing it himself.

[pepperwood2]

First, Al Gore doesn%u2019t purchase carbon offsets out of his own pocket and the actual economic cost, if any, to him is unknown.

The actual offset purchaser is a London-based investment firm, Generation Investment Management (GIM), that Al Gore co-founded with former Goldman Sachs executive David Blood and others in 2004.

GIM supposedly purchases carbon offsets for all 23 of its employees to cover their personal energy use, according to a March 7 CNSNews.com report. These offsets, then, would be provided to Gore more as an employee benefit, thus requiring very little sacrifice on his or his family's part.

[mitywhity]

why are they so much smarter in europe?????????
...............Posted by cantshutup.............

They aren't. The missing piece of the story was the cost to create the infrastructure necessary to provide for only 4000 people. That doesn't mean that 4000 homes are on this grid, no it's probably 1000 maybe. That works out to only about 4-5 U.S. subdivisions worth of homes. There is no way that this kind of technology can be justified economically. You are looking at many millions of dollars of technology for only a 1000 or so homes - not very affordable for even Bill Gates.

[cantshutup]

why are they so much smarter in europe?????????

[gary4books]

I also remember when the residents of Martha's Vineyard and the Great Senator were up in arms against the ugly windmill being pushed by the evil power companies. I just wondered who had bought another public figure to fight something t hat might reduce their profits in the future. Or perhaps the Senator really thinks windmills are ugly. I see it as the last gasp of the forces that want to delay our next age of abundance to keep political power. Their day is done.

[barbgerman]

Regarding the story this evening about the wind turbines. A mention was made about the residents of Martha's Vineyard being so impressed that they had adopted it as their model. Four years ago when I lived in the Boston area, it was all over the news about how the residents of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket were very opposed to the idea of the turbines because the turbines (which were to be positioned approximantely four miles out to sea) would interfere with the residents' views...