Nirmal Ghosh, Straits Times 17 Dec 09;
UNDER leaden skies on a frigid winter morning, Mr Soren Hermansen is hard at work - as usual.
More people have made the journey to Samsoe to see for themselves the small but stunning miracle that is the windswept Danish island. As director of the Samsoe Energy Academy, Mr Hermansen shows the visitors around. The academy receives about 5,000 visitors each year, including schoolchildren.
For a world in grave danger from the overuse of fossil fuels, the island - some five hours west of Copenhagen by train and ferry - represents a signpost to a better future.
�The 4,000 people living on the 114 sq km island of rolling green fields and big skies can boast of being the world's first totally self-sufficient and carbon-neutral community, whose energy needs are all met by renewable sources. Samsoe even exports its surplus electricity to the mainland, which brings in around $1 million in revenue a year.
The Samsoe project had its seeds in the oil price shock of the 1970s, which got the Danish government thinking about how to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.
Plans to build nuclear power plants were dropped after they were met with widespread public apprehension. The government looked at renewable energy and the next two decades were marked by spectacular progress in renewable technology. Environmental funds were set up, which, together with policy incentives, catalysed investments. The wind energy industry alone has created 30,000 jobs in Denmark.
Samsoe was chosen in 1997 in a nationwide competition to become a model community for sustainable energy. A non-governmental organisation was formed to run the project but residents were also involved as decision-makers and shareholders.
In 2003 and 2004, a wind farm with 10 turbines was set up offshore. It was the biggest project of its kind in the world at the time, and its stakeholders were the residents, not big corporations. Another 11 land-based wind turbines were added later. Some houses now have their own turbines.
Residents learnt how to improve home insulation, cutting their heating needs by 10 per cent. Four heating plants - using straw from the fields or wood chips from the forests - as well as 2,500 sq m of solar photovoltaic panels produce enough energy to meet 60 per cent of Samsoe's needs.
At one dairy plant, water warmed as it cools the milk is then used in the shower.
All these renewable energy schemes have made Samsoe and its inhabitants not just carbon-neutral but carbon-negative.
There has been a 140 per cent reduction in carbon emissions on the island since 1998. While the Danes on average have a per capita carbon footprint of around 10 tonnes, Samsoe residents' per capita carbon footprint is minus 3.7 tonnes because they produce surplus energy.
Mr Hermansen is something of a celebrity. He makes trips abroad to tell countries from China to Morocco about the Samsoe success story.
Hailed as an environmental hero, he downplays the accolade, saying: 'The real heroes are the local guys.'
Samsoe, he says, is not unlike communities elsewhere: It too has its share of issues that need to be grappled with.
At one time, it was the survival of the island community itself. An agricultural community, Samsoe supplies tonnes of produce to the mainland. But its young men and women were leaving the island to study and work on the mainland. The closure of a slaughterhouse created a ripple effect, throwing 100 local people out of work - and sparking a mini depression on the island.
The renewable energy project that then came along fired up the locals, especially as the model promised money in the bank after the initial investment of €60 million (S$120 million). It also gave the people energy independence and jobs.
Ironically, Samsoe is surrounded by some of the country's biggest coal-fired plants, whose smokestacks can be seen on the far horizon.
Nevertheless, the residents can take pride in the fact that the island is today an icon of renewable energy.
To Mr Hermansen, the key to its success lies in the local community.
'Those people at the (Copenhagen conference on climate change) don't know local conditions,' he said.
'We should stop thinking globally, and act locally.'
