[V]ermont can learn about renewable energy from the small town of Samsø, said Søren Hermansen, a leader of the Danish island’s energy efforts.
Often hailed as the architect of the island’s transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy, and previously named in Time magazine as a “Hero of the Environment,” Hermansen will speak Saturday at Vermont Energy & Climate Action Network’s annual conference, at the Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee.
The tiny Nordic island, populated by around 4,000 people, shares much in common with Vermont, Hermansen said, in particular having to do with the state’s own transition to renewable energy.
As part of a national effort to reduce fossil fuel consumption that began in response to the oil crisis of the 1970s, Samsø has transitioned its energy mix entirely to renewable sources over the course of a decade.
The move was motivated by a desire for self-sufficiency, Hermansen said, but it succeeded for financial reasons.
Government-imposed floors on energy prices allowed Samsø residents to secure financing for shares in wind turbines, Hermansen said, since the price guarantee ensured reliable returns on loans. As co-owners of Samsø’s renewable-energy generators who now profit from the machines, the island’s denizens quickly got on board, Hermansen said.
During the process of installing a dozen huge turbines on the island and another dozen offshore, the islanders met many of the same objections to wind turbines that Vermonters are now contending with, he said.
Islanders were told (primarily by second-home owners eager to protect their property values, Hermansen said) the turbines would kill large numbers of birds, Hermansen said, but experience has proven otherwise.
Islanders were also warned that the structures would discourage tourism, but that industry has instead grown, Hermansen said.
Opponents often complain that they can’t avoid seeing the turbines, which can be viewed 20 miles away on an island whose tallest elevation reaches about 200 feet — “but that’s because they’re completely focused on them,” Hermansen said. Tourists don’t notice the turbines because their interest lies elsewhere, he said.
Residents of Samsø heard that the turbines would cause them to experience mysterious illnesses that result from low-frequency, inaudible sound waves the machines emit, Hermansen said. Numerous studies have discredited fears of such ailments, Hermansen said.
Opponents’ fears seem to lie not with the turbines themselves, but with the modern experience of a changing world, Hermansen said.
Vermont appears of all the states most similar to Denmark, Hermansen said, and the potential exists for Vermont to set an example for the country in the state’s efforts to wean from fossil fuels.
“You could do more or less what we do,” Hermansen said.
“You have this position to be a green-energy leader in America … and more than ever, America needs leaders in green energy,” he said.