In Samsoe (Denmark)
Marcel Meijer calls himself
"a proud and happy man"
.
Mayor of the small Danish island of Samsoe, 3,704 souls, in the Kattegat Strait, he is preparing to receive, tomorrow, Wednesday 10 November, the UN Leaders Prize for the climate at the COP26 in Glasgow.
This United Nations 'Global Climate Action Prize' rewards
"the municipality of Samsoe which has completely transformed its energy system from fossil fuels to renewable energies, thus becoming the first renewable energy island in the world".
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In the middle of the campaign for the municipal elections of November 16, this Danish adoption, arrived on the island in the 1990s from Holland, remembers the road traveled
"strewn with pitfalls"
to meet a sacred challenge. Chosen in 1997 as a pilot experiment by the Minister of the Environment Svend Auken, Samsoe was to be completely autonomous in ten years thanks to renewable energies. A daring and successful bet.
"Dependent thirty years earlier on electricity imported from coal-fired power stations by submarine cables from the continent and fuel oil by boat for our electricity, heating and hot water needs, we had to and wanted to succeed in our green revolution",
he confides.
It was necessary to convince the inhabitants in a pragmatic way to seize such an opportunity in an island with a declining population, deserted by young people and businesses and businesses, and which has a considerable asset: the wind
Soeren Hermansen, teacher
But many were initially skeptical of such a drastic change in this 114 km2 island, known for its new strawberries and potatoes.
"We had to convince the inhabitants in a pragmatic way to seize such an opportunity in an island with a declining population, deserted by young people and businesses and businesses, and which has a considerable asset: the wind",
explains Soeren Hermansen, teacher proselyte.
Eleven wind turbines will be installed on land and ten at sea, making the island self-sufficient in electricity, even exporting its surplus, and the icing on the cake, with a negative carbon footprint, according to Soeren Hermansen, kingpin of the Académie de l energy, a showcase of Samsoe's energy transition visited each year by some 5,000 politicians and experts from around the world.
Most of the islanders, particularly farmers, as well as the municipality, are co-owners of the turbines.
Soeren Hermansen encouraged, calculator in hand, its inhabitants, known as the Samsinger, to invest in wind turbines to earn income from the production of electricity sold to the rest of Denmark.
Biogas production
In his house, Brian Kjaer, an electrician, bought an old wind turbine in 2006 and fitted his roof with solar panels
“which cover my energy consumption. I even sell my surplus electricity, having paid off my investment in five years ”. "Wind power alone is not enough to ensure our carbon neutrality, particularly in transport and agriculture, which are major polluters",
underlines the mayor who has a project for a biogas production plant, using slurry from pigs and pigs. straw.
Energy efficiency is a key element in the green revolution of the island's authorities, who have succeeded in reducing their energy consumption by more than 20% by encouraging the islanders to abandon their oil heating, to insulate their homes in order to to be supplied with district heating from four power stations running on straw and wood chips, and with solar panels.
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On the roads, the change is also noticeable with
"the greatest number of electric vehicles per inhabitant in the kingdom, and at sea our ferry is sailing with liquefied natural gas that we want to replace by biomass",
welcomes Soeren Hermansen.
With the ultimate goal of
“the disappearance of fossil fuels by 2030”
.
But the energy revolution of Samsoe, which
"inspired other countries like Canada, Japan, Australia",
according to its project manager, required large investments,
"more than 70 million euros, granted largely by the islanders ”.
"Such a project towards carbon neutrality in Samsoe has only succeeded,
" he says, "
because it is decentralized, democratic and community-based."
Le Figaro
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