Most Energy Efficient Place on Earth?

A biodiesel tractor on Samso

Denmark’s Samso Island is a sort of paradise for renewable energy enthusiasts. The residents have created, in just over a decade, a 100 percent carbon neutral, self-sufficient community.The local Samso Energy Academy is an example for other areas around the globe who might want to create an economic environment that is good for the ecological environment.

Electric cars, as you might guess, play a large part in the island’s daily life. The source for all this clean, cheap energy is wind power, and lots of it.

In fact, the island won a competition back in the late 1990s, which allowed it to receive government help to become a self-sustaining energy community. The narrator of the video clip takes us on a tour, highlighting the renewable energy setup of Samso, and briefly discussing the area’s draw as a tourist haven for other Europeans during the warm months. Unlike most places where electric cars roam the streets, Samso’s entire power source is clean wind energy. There are no fossil fuels used on the island at all. Even the tractors that run on liquid fuel use biodiesel from rapeseed plants grown on the island!

What the narrator does not mention is that Samso, before it became a green energy haven, was completely dependent on imported oil and coal. The 21 wind turbines, which now produce more electricity than necessary for the island’s 4,300 residents, were funded by locals. Household heat is provided by the burning of straw in a central plant. Samso’s Ballen Energy Academy has received lavish praise from educational institutions around the world as being a perfect hands-on source of training for energy professionals. Each year, many hundreds of experts make their way to Samso for vacations combined with serious study.  Continue reading more…