PowerSwitch

Posted: **24 Jun 2007, 07:00**

The Danish 'energy self sufficient' island of Samso is being featured this morning on the BBC24 News Channel.

An inspiration to us all. Take a look at the following video clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDk4GtUh3HA

Posted: **24 Jun 2007, 10:14**

Very nice . . . good to see it being reported on CBS too!

Posted: **24 Jun 2007, 12:29**

Er..yes. Nice. But it ignores all the invisible energy imports. Who made the tractor shown being driven on biodesel? Where did the tinned sheet steel being used in the canning factory come from? Not from the island, obviously. You have to close the loop on an entire self contained economy before sustainable 'self sufficiency' can be claimed.

Not that I'm denigrating their efforts, this is the way to go.

Posted: **24 Jun 2007, 15:50**

They use a central CHP plant for heat so the houses must all be fairly close together. If it's anything like Sweden they had NG powered CHP, the biomass burning unit must have been retrofitted, so all the pipework would have already been installed. A very costly exercise to install this network of piping to existing housing estates.

Posted: **28 Jun 2007, 13:51**

skeptik wrote:Er..yes. Nice. But it ignores all the invisible energy imports. Who made the tractor shown being driven on biodesel? Where did the tinned sheet steel being used in the canning factory come from? Not from the island, obviously. You have to close the loop on an entire self contained economy before sustainable 'self sufficiency' can be claimed.

Unfortunately, I agree. It's possible to create these separated communities but they are essentially just subsidized by the wider community. These sort of experiments actually highlight how dependent we are on a global economy. That boat or airplane to the mainland is a vital lifeline. Islands are historically unsustainable places to live, they are at the sharp end of climate change.

Posted: **27 Nov 2009, 00:09**

More on the island of Samso.

The little island and its big, green victory

The Danish haven of Samso is one of the world's first industrialised places to become energy self-sufficient – a great boost for a country about to host a summit on climate change. Tony Paterson visits the windy isle

... It is a major propaganda victory for a country that will shortly be hosting the world summit on climate change – in fact, Copenhagen delegates will be flown or ferried out here next month to see Samso for themselves. The island's inhabitants are proud of what they have achieved. "Being part of a project like this gives you a wonderful feeling of being in harmony with nature," resident Erik Andersen explained.

Thursday, 26 November 2009
http://www.independent.co.uk/environmen ... 27638.html

Posted: **27 Nov 2009, 00:48**

bobcousins wrote:Islands are historically unsustainable places to live, they are at the sharp end of climate change.

We're on an island. Are we big enough not to count, or is it a case of the bigger they are, the harder they fall

Posted: **27 Nov 2009, 09:17**

bobcousins wrote:
Islands are historically unsustainable places to live, they are at the sharp end of climate change.

We're on an island. Are we big enough not to count, or is it a case of the bigger they are, the harder they fall

ah, but we are all on an island. Earth.

Posted: **27 Nov 2009, 10:10**

Skeptic is right, it's not really self sufficient.

But, it's still impressive to see what the future could be like.

It will be interesting to see how the Americans get on with their island over the next 10 years...

PowerSwitch

Samso Island featured on BBC 24 News - 24/06/07

Samso Island featured on BBC 24 News - 24/06/07