A full green Danish island

I came across a very interesting and perhaps unique example of an island which is fully self sufficient when it comes to its own electricity generation.

Samso is an island in Denmark with permanent population of only 4000 and an area of 40 square miles. The unique thing about this island is that they generate their own power by the use of windmills.

Almost all the power that is used by this island is generated through renewable sources. For example all the electricity is generated by the windmills that are located at the seas. Tractors are powered by rapeseed oil (canola oil) and homes are heated using boiling water that runs through all households and is heated by solar panels. On an island which sits on a freezing sea with short days and long nights, it is a wonder that the water is piping hot at any point in the day!

The economic angle to Samsa is that the shares in the wind turbines are sold to all the locals and the surplus is getting shared by the people of Samsa.

So, not only have they found a green way of running their town, they are making profit out this green adventure too.  In fact they are able to generate power surplus which they are selling off to the mainland also!

This small island is showing the way to the rest of the us in a world with oil prices soaring above 100 dollars.

You can read the wiki entry here: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samso

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