Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

The project‚ purpose is to make the island of Sams√∏, Denmark fossil free by 2030, that it to cover its energy needs by local renewable energy resources with no use of fossil fuels, and achieve this with the engagement and participation of the local community. This is unique in ambition and also in social innovation, two elements that have empowered the entire island community to back the project, engage, participate and invest and has made Sams√∏ a brand name worldwide. The project will make Sams√∏ the first municipality in the world that becomes completely fossil-free with local renewable resources.

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Being an island, the entire community on Sams√∏ is climate vulnerable. The Energy Academy has been the facilitator of the fossil-free island project and under S√∏ren Hermansen‚ guidance it led the population‚ engagement process. We have learned that the fear of change is generally embedded in people. We know what we have and don‚ t know what‚ in the future. To break this human resistance, the Energy Academy invited people in a process where they felt comfortable to talk about the unknown. The aim is that every single citizen participates in the process, has a say and is eventually on board. To achieve this, it organised open public meetings for citizens and stakeholders to present the project, what would it mean for the island, for different stakeholders, for professional groups and for every single citizen. It highlighted the potential sufficiency of the island‚ local energy resources and the autonomy from the fossil fuel-based power plant on mainland Denmark, the additional income from co-investing in the project, its pioneering element and uniqueness, the local jobs, the potential benefits from ‚ green‚ tourism etc. It also implemented campaigns and carried out home visits to advocate for energy efficiency measures in private homes and businesses. It explained the financial benefits from the energy consumption reduction and the increase of thermal comfort for citizens to empower them to implement energy efficiency measures in their residences. In particular for the elderly, it informed all pensioner households about the available grants for energy efficiency and renewable energy investments in private homes and offered for free a visit by an energy adviser to discuss with them and answer any questions. Overall, there‚ no doubt about the positive impact the project has had for bringing the entire community together under a common goal, and for local employment which has revived the local economy. The success of this on-going process has made Sams√∏ a brand name worldwide for what a sustainable vision for a community can be and how community-driven climate action can revive rural areas around the world which face significant challenges, such as population decline, and significantly improve their outlook and optimism for the future.

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