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Samso's Renewable Energy Success

Samso's Renewable Energy Success

  Danish environmental educator Søren Hermansen spoke about how his island of Samso, Denmark, became energy independent. Hermansen was named one of Time's 2008 Heroes of the Planet, described as "a green oracle, traveling from country to country telling the story of Samso's success."

Speaking in Maine returned to Bar Harbor - and the College of the Atlantic for a talk by Danish environmental educator Søren Hermansen.

He'll spoke about how his island of Samso, Denmark, became energy independent. Hermansen was named one of the 2008 Heroes of the Planet by Time.

He has been described as "a green oracle, traveling from country to country telling the story of Samso's success." Hermansen will discuss how he convinced this island of farmers to go for it, even without government funds.

They exchanged oil-burning furnaces for systems burning leftover straw and wood chips to provide the island's heat and hot water.

They bought shares in wind turbines, generating the funds to build 11 large land-based wind turbines, supplying all the energy the island needs. In addition, they also decided to offset their dependence on ferries and fuels with 10 massive offshore turbines.