TIME Magazine acclaims environmental hero from Samsø

By Jesper Løvenbalk Hansen

Like a missionary he has knocked on doors across the island. He has held countless presentations in local village halls. He has drawn, he has talked, and he has convinced the Samsø islanders that it is their island which should be Denmark's finest renewable energy showcase. And although he has been far from alone in carrying out the work, it is Søren Hermansen to whom a significant part of the credit is ascribed for Samsø today being 100% self-sufficient with CO2-free, sustainable energy.

So who is Søren Hermansen. An idealist? Yes, absolutely. Before Søren Hermansen took on the position as Samsø's leading environmentalist, he was an environmental instructor at one of the island's schools where he taught the pupils sustainable ways of living.

But Søren Hermansen is also a realist, who understood back in 1997 that it was neither idealism nor doomsday speeches about environmental catastrophes, global warming and rising sea levels which would convince Samsø's 4,000 inhabitants to invest their time and resources in what has become one of the most efficiently conducted green revolutions.

»We held a lot of meetings in village halls and inns, and that took a couple of years. Many people were initially sitting on their hands, doubting whether it would be possible. But there were some who could see the development opportunities and the benefits to themselves in the idea. It was not about idealism and environmentalism, but about creating new products and business opportunities as well as bread on the table,« Søren Hermansen has told Danish newspaper Dagbladet Information.

Today, ten years after Søren Hermansen started his mission, the results can be read in Samsø's energy and CO2 accounts. Previously, Samsø depended on oil and diesel that were shipped to the island, and on electricity produced by coal-fired power stations which was supplied via an under-sea cable from the mainland. Today, the power flows in the opposite direction; electricity produced from renewable energy has become the island's largest export. It means that whereas in 1997 Samsø's annual CO2 emissions were 45,000 tons, the figure today is –15,000 tons: a negative number because the islanders now produce so much renewable energy that they can export clean environment.

Green oracle
Now that the big wide world has become aware of Samsø, Søren Hermansen has become a man to whom everyone looks for answers. As TIME Magazine writes in its reason for adding his name to the Heroes of the Environment 2008 list of the world's currently most important environmental heroes: »Hermansen has become a green oracle, travelling from country to country telling the story of Samso's success when he's not at home running the Energy Academy, a research center for clean power.«
When anyone asks, they are given the answer that the story of Samsø goes from the bottom upwards. »The crucial point is that we have shown that if you want to change how you generate energy, you have to start at the community level,« says Søren Hermansen.

Foto case om Søren Hermansen:
Søren Hermansen has become a celebrity on TIME Magazine's current list of the ten greatest environmental heroes in the world. The same list includes California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Chinese journalist and environmental activist Wang Yongchen, and the green venture capitalist John Doerr.


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Samsø Energy Academy