Cape Wind – an important role for VCS
By Brendan O’Neill, Executive Director

Curtailing the worst impacts of global climate change will require deployment of an arsenal of renewable energy technologies, including wind. But to succeed, much more needs to be done to address the demand-reduction side of electricity use.

The fight over plans to develop 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound has been a kind of Clash of Titans, with well-funded project proponents and opponents hardening their positions over the course of the last five-years. So the role VCS chose to play in our most recent testimony to federal reviewers in mid-March was essentially to "argue-in-the-alternative" and underscore energy conservation, an issue that the two sides had largely overlooked. We argued strongly that the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) failed to adequately address the complementary and critical issue of conservation and efficiency – the demand side of the electricity generation picture – and was therefore insufficient. Alternatively, we argued that if the project does move forward, the substantial financial exactions that would accrue to the state should be partially devoted to support of energy conservation and efficiency programs, particularly on the Cape and the Islands.  

Met Tower to be installed on Tisbury town land

With the help of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and our Department of Public Works, the Town of Tisbury is installing a Meteorological Data Tower (Met Tower) at the town’s former septage lagoons not far from the town landfill.

Work is expected to start on Monday, June 11 and by Wednesday it should be up and running.

The tower is not a wind turbine, it is a temporary structure designed to measure wind energy characteristics. It will stay in place for one year. During that time, it will continuously collect data on wind speed, direction, duration, wind shear, seasonal variability, and other factors necessary to estimate the practicality and economic benefit of wind energy for the town.

Computer-generated maps indicate that there is considerable wind energy available in this region but we need specific data for this area to be sure.

The information from the met tower is part of a larger feasibility study being done for us by the MTC which also includes noise and visual impacts, permitting requirements, construction limitations, cost estimates and financing options.

If the data is positive, we hope to construct a wind turbine at the landfill to supply electricity to our septic treatment plant and the pumps for the town’s wells. These facilities are the biggest users of energy in the town, costing Tisbury taxpayers over a hundred thousand dollars a year in electricity bills. A Wind Turbine here could substantially reduce, or even eliminate, those bills and would also reduce our dependence on outside energy sources.

MVRHS gets a Wind Turbine

The MVRHS wind turbine (an ARE-442, the third in existence) was raised on the High School campus, Saturday March 10th.  This 100’ wind turbine was the generous gift of Caroline (Nan) Rheault a member of the Vineyard Community, who has since, sadly, passed away. In order to achieve her goal of inspiring students to build careers in renewable energy, she hired South Mountain Company to design, permit and install one of the newest generation in small wind turbines. Abundant Renewable Energy, in Oregon supplied the wind turbine. Even though the turbine with its rating of 10 kilowatts will only partially off set the electricity used at the high school, the more important reason for its presence is to educate and inspire the students. The end of April is the targeted date to get the remaining electric work done in order for the turbine to be fully functional. Stay tuned for the announced date of a dedication which will happen in April.

Bright Ideas Are In The Wind!
Marnie Stanton, Vineyard Conservation Almanac

In keeping with our age old need for independence and in celebration of the 4th of July, the Vineyard Conservation Society is launching an informational exhibit at ‘Five Corners,’ in Vineyard Haven. Eric Anderson the owner of the old Harness building and Antonio Silva the owner of the Tropical Restaurant & Churrascaria, have generously offered part of the garden space in the brick patio to display a small wind turbine. 

The Swift Rooftop Wind turbine is made by and kindly lent to the island by Renewable Devices Swift Turbines Ltd. from Edinburgh, Scotland. The “Micro” Wind turbine is a prototype or demonstration model, of working turbines in the UK. It is not available for worldwide export yet but the company is ramping up to make their product available in the near future. Presently there are 150 working turbines installed and operating with an additional 2000 units expected to be generating electricity by 2007.

This unique design is the only turbine of its kind with five international patents allowing for relatively silent, (sound of a slide projector) vibration-free operation and efficient electricity generation. The annual power supply is estimated between 2000-3000 kilowatt hours depending on the siting of the turbine. The turbines are designed to be mounted close to the roofline or on flat roofs. Clean generated electricity feeds directly into the utility grid, making it both financially and environmentally friendly.

With all the controversy associated with the Cape Wind off shore wind turbines it is exciting to speculate that island residents can become proactive in fighting global warming in their own back yards with these roof-mounted turbines of the future. The Swift turbines along with the 100’ vertical turbines distributed by South Mountain as well as the 200’ municipal size turbine (IBEW turbine in Dorchester seen from the SE expressway) could all be used together to make the Vineyard a truly sustainable place.

For updates on the Swift Turbine, it’s availability in the US market, stay tuned to the Vineyard Conservation Almanac.

Wind Power 2006 Conference and Exhibition

By Tim Lasker

Last week I attended the 2006 WindPower Conference and Exhibition at the new Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA. It was held over four days and included lectures, speeches, awards and an exhibition. I attended only the exhibition, but that in itself was remarkable.

A friend of mine who runs a windpower consulting company and has attended the last four conferences said, “four years ago you could have fit this exhibition in a high school gymnasium.” This year it filled the entire new convention center which is similar in size to Boston’s new convention center.

The floor consisted of turbine (windmill) companies along with a number of ancillary businesses such as feasibility consultants, gear manufacturers, alternator/generator manufacturers, large scale construction companies, tower climbing machines, and even wave energy devices.

The best way to describe turbine manufacturers is to break them down into three categories; Super turbine (Giga Watts); Community turbines (Mega Watts); Micro/Residential turbines (Kilo Watts). The largest supplier of Super and Community turbines is Vestas, a Danish company which ten years ago manufactured only farm equipment. Corporate giants such as General Electric and Siemens were also exhibitors and obviously see the business opportunity in windpower. There was a special section for Micro Turbine manufacturers, a number them exhibiting for the first time.

What was very apparent is the fact that this industry is growing at a phenomenal rate, in fact the Super and Community turbines are sold out worldwide until 2008. There are new technologies being developed almost daily. A good example is Clipper Windpower’s Liberty Super Turbine that utilizes numerous generators rather than sophisticated gears that tend to break down over time.

Needless to say, I spent a good deal of time listening to presentations about off-shore wind energy development and how it might relate to the Cape project. Regrettably it seems the jury is still out on such developments: the biggest question seems to be whether off shore wind energy development is commercially viable and if it is not profitable how will this affect the on-going operations.

There were many opinions on the floor about windpower, but there was one which everyone agreed upon -- windpower is in its infancy and it will continue to evolve as an important piece of our energy future.

Wind Turbines on the Vineyard

By Marnie Stanton, Vineyard Conservation Almanac

The grey nose pointed into the wind as the blades lazily rotated making a quiet  whishing sound. The hundred foot high South Mountain wind turbine was doing its job generating enough electricity to power two houses. The supporting steel tower structure blended into the surrounding stand of trees making the turbine quite inconspicuous to the eye.

“It is the company policy to support renewable energy,” John Abrams, president of South Mountain said. “We are suppliers of the Bergey Windpower Company’s small wind turbine that is very popular for residential or small business use, and we are in the process of installing another turbine, made by Abundant Renewable Energy (ARE) in Oregon, at the Regional High School.” Looking over his shoulder at the structure across the parking lot, he said, “This is our test model.  The one going up at the high school will have slightly more output and we will be testing that out as well. There is considerable interest now in wind and we have several private clients waiting for installations, but we want to evaluate the two machines before installing more.”

Abrams and his colleagues feel that they are a small piece of a big puzzle. “The two related issues of the approach of Peak Oil and Global Climate Change make these opportune times to commit to sun and wind,” he says. “We Americans are in a state of denial, and paralyzed by our fear of taking risks, while much of the rest of the world is moving swiftly towards renewables.  We need to be working at all scales – small, medium, and large – and putting as much into the effort as we did to put a man on the moon.” 

Back in the 70’s the Vineyard had the Energy Resource Group (ERG) which was very involved in promoting solar panels for electricity, solar hot water heaters, and wind turbines. John was one of the original members and has always been an advocate of wind as a renewable resource. During that time, ERG helped to craft wind bylaws for all the island towns which provided for special permits, given a particular set of circumstances, to allow wind turbines to exceed height limits. Those bylaws, which remain in place, help bring order to the process of siting wind turbines today.

When the public perception of a gasoline crisis passed in the 80’s, renewable energy rapidly lost momentum in this country. On the Island, the Town of  Tisbury erected a turbine at the landfill based on the 1927 design of the French aeronautical engineer George Darrieus. The Darrieus turbine consisted of aerofoils mounted vertically instead of horizontally on a rotating shaft. Lack of spare parts, money and interest led to its eventual decommissioning and removal. Since then the technology has vastly improved with very effective new state of the art large turbines that generate - at slower rotation speeds - more energy then ever before. Hull, Massachusetts has a very successful, land based, 200 foot turbine that generates enough electricity to service 250 homes. Their wind project has generated so much support that they are now in the process of adding a second one. 

Now that our country again faces high oil prices, renewable energy sources are again attracting attention. Tisbury’s Energy Committee is again exploring the possibility of erecting a turbine to generate electricity to directly benefit the town, perhaps one or two like the Hull turbines. Preliminary data collection is part of the permitting process; the State requires a meteological tower to be in place for a year on the proposed site. The tower will collect wind speed, direction, and velocity, which are vital to determining whether the project is feasible. The State dictates that an average wind speed of 12 mph is necessary before a turbine project can be considered. Other factors are of concern as well, like flight patterns from the airport and abutter setbacks, but the committee is trying hard to stay on course and handle each issue in turn. Tisbury isn’t the only town pursuing wind energy. The Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah and the town of Aquinnah are also looking into the possibility of constructing wind turbines.

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative is a State run small renewable initiative which gives rebates of up to 25% on the cost of wind turbines. When talking about the cost of one of his wind turbines, John said that about $27,000 of the $90,000 cost was covered by the MTC rebate. For more information on that subject go to www.masstech.org/renewableenergy/small_renewables.htm

Thanks to the various groups promoting alternative energy sources, the Vineyard continues to take a leadership role in this area. The Vineyard Energy Project (VEP) continues to do a tremendous job raising public consciousness on energy issues. Last year, for example, a VEP sponsored Island-wide Energy Initiative which voters passed by all six towns.VEP has also produced a 10 year Energy Action Plan which has become the roadmap for moving the Vineyard on the path to embracing energy sustainability.

John Abrams and South Mountain Company continue to build energy efficient houses and use and promote wind as a viable source of energy. He is excited to see that there is once again interest in alternative energy.  His hope for the island is that residential, commercial, municipal and utilities will begin to support wind as well as other renewable energy sources from now on.

Cape Wind and pork-barrel politics

TODAY'S EDITORIAL
May 8, 2006

In the middle of another energy crisis and for reasons that have never been clear, Congress's two pork-barrel kings -- Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, both Republican appropriators from Alaska who inserted the notorious "Bridge to Nowhere" into last year's pork-laden highway bill -- did their very best in secretive committee negotiations to torpedo the Cape Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts.

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20060507-094115-8137r.htm

Poll shows strong wind farm support

May 9, 2006
Cape Cod Times
By KEVIN DENNEHY, STAFF WRITER

Across the state, a strong majority of residents continue to support the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm, according to a poll released by the State House News Service yesterday.

About 71 percent of those polled by the news organization earlier this month said they support the project, while only 17 percent were opposed.

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/pollshows9.htm

WIND ENERGY DEMAND BOOMING:
Cost Dropping Below Conventional Sources Marks Key Milestone in U.S. Shift to Renewable Energy

March 22, 2006
Lester R. Brown
Earth Policy Institute

When Austin Energy, the publicly owned utility in Austin, Texas, launched its GreenChoice program in 2000, customers opting for green electricity paid a premium. During the fall of 2005, climbing natural gas prices pulled conventional electricity costs above those of wind-generated electricity, the source of most green power. This crossing of the cost lines in Austin and several other communities is a milestone in the U.S. shift to a renewable energy economy.

http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2006/Update52.htm

Koch's lobbyists could derail Cape Wind

March 16, 2006
CAPE COD TIMES
By KEVIN DENNEHY, STAFF WRITER

As federal lawmakers prepare to vote on legislation that could doom the Nantucket Sound wind farm, plenty of eyes are watching closely.

Take, for instance, Bill Koch, the Osterville billionaire and wind farm opponent whose company paid a lobbying firm $60,000 last year to influence, in part, the Coast Guard bill that could kill the wind farm, according to recent lobbying reports.

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/kochxslobbyists16.htm

Wind turbine could power MMR cleanup

March 17, 2006
CAPE COD TIMES
By AMANDA LEHMERT, STAFF WRITER

OTIS AIR BASE - Air Force officials want to build a 660-kilowatt wind turbine on the Massachusetts Military Reservation that could power the base's busy groundwater cleanup facilities.

The site for the proposed turbine, on the base boundary about a half-mile from Route 28 in Cataumet, is an ideal location because it is a windy area and the treatment plants use a lot of electricity, said officials from the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence Installation Restoration Program.

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/windturbine17.htm

Delahunt fears wind farm effect on radar

March 10, 2006
CAPE COD TIMES
By KEVIN DENNEHY and DAVID SCHOETZ, STAFF WRITERS

U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, the Cape's congressman, is urging a federal hearing on whether a proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm will interfere with military and civilian radar systems.

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/delahuntfears10.htm

Senators opposing bid to limit wind farms

March 8, 2006
CAPE COD TIMES
By KEVIN DENNEHY, STAFF WRITER

A Capitol Hill amendment that would likely kill the Nantucket Sound wind farm has met with stiff opposition from Senate leaders behind closed doors, according to Washington sources.

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/senatorsopposing8.htm

No shortage of wind farm spin

February 27, 2006
CAPE COD TIMES
By KEVIN DENNEHY and DAVID SCHOETZ, STAFF WRITERS

During five years of debate over the Nantucket Sound wind farm, there have been arguments about cost benefits and national security, bird deaths and spoiled waterfront views.

But when a panel of congressmen meets on Capitol Hill as soon as this week to discuss legislation that could kill the wind farm, the fate of the project may hinge on a single question: Would the turbines threaten navigation on the Sound?

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/noshortage27.htm

Young puts spin on turbines

February 22, 2006
CAPE COD TIMES
By KEVIN DENNEHY and DAVID SCHOETZ, STAFF WRITERS

A letter obtained by the Cape Cod Times removes any doubt that an Alaska congressman is behind efforts to kill the Nantucket Sound wind farm.
LINK TO STORY

Student turbine designs show wind's promise

February 24, 2006
CAPE COD TIMES
By DAVID SCHOETZ, STAFF WRITER

MARSTONS MILLS - Forget pinwheels. These Cape whiz kids are building turbines.

A group of 15 students in grades 5-9 opted out of other vacation week pursuits to spend two days learning about wind power and how important the renewable energy source may prove to be.

The workshop at the Horace Mann Charter School, offered by the Cape Cod Technology Council, culminated yesterday with seven teams hooking their homemade turbines to a small volt meter, aiming a floor fan at their creations and measuring how much power each produced.

LINK TO STORY

Wind farm likely to play role in governor's race

February 13, 2006
CAPE COD TIMES
Cape Cod Times

It seems the Nantucket Sound wind farm will be an issue in this gubernatorial campaign - at least as long as Democrat Deval Patrick is in the race. Even as Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey officially jumped into the race last Wednesday, Patrick publicly challenged the Republican to support the Cape Wind project, a 130-turbine offshore proposal currently being reviewed by the state and federal governments.

Regardless of whether he actually expected her to do that, it was a chance for the Patrick campaign to remind voters of a big issue where he stands out in this race.
LINK TO STORY

Investors Are Tilting Toward Windmills

By CLAUDIA H. DEUTSCH
Published: February 15, 2006

It's hard to be in a business where you literally — as well as figuratively — are tilting at windmills. But that business may have just gotten its biggest tail wind yet.
LINK TO STORY

Ocean management plan proposed

By DAVID KIBBE
December 13, 2005
Cape Cod Times

Under legislation moving through the Statehouse, Massachusetts would draw up a management plan for state coastal waters - including identifying where offshore wind power would be appropriate. The Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture gave a favorable recommendation to the bill yesterday. It now moves to the Senate Ways and Means Committee before heading to the full Senate for a vote, possibly as early as January.

Read more at capecodonline.com 

Bourne OKs wind turbine

November 21, 2005
By CONOR BERRY
Cape Cod Times

The first state-owned wind turbine could rise on windswept Taylors Point in less than six months, now that a final regulatory hurdle has been cleared. The single-turbine proposal by the Massachusetts Maritime Academy had been waiting for approval from the Bourne Conservation Commission, which reviewed the project under the state Wetlands Protection Act.

Read more at capecodonline.com

Wind farm foes hire high-profile lobbyist

By KEVIN DENNEHY
November 21, 2005
Cape Cod Times

Guess we know where some of that nearly $5 million raised last year by the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound is going. The nonprofit Cape organization, which is bent on stopping the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm, recently hired the services of Aubrey Atwood Rothrock III, a top Washington, D.C., lobbyist whose specialty is tax law and who also happens to be a top fundraiser for President Bush.

Read more at capecodonline.com

Wind power on the move

October 22, 2005
Cape Cod Times

The following are excerpts from a conversation yesterday with Randy Swisher, the executive director of the American Wind Energy Association. Swisher took over as head of the industry's main trade group in 1989.

CCTimes: Is offshore wind viable in the United States?

Swisher: In most parts of the country, offshore wind isn't going to make a heck of a lot of sense, especially when you're competing against Great Plains wind energy. The economics are substantially different. But in a place like New England, where you don't have miles and miles and miles of wide-open space, where you've got denser population, limited land use availability and higher demand, in time, offshore wind can compete economically.

Read more at capecodonline.com

Big money looks at wind power

October 26, 2005
By DAVID SCHOETZ
Cape Cod Times

There was little talk of potential bird deaths, threats to fishing grounds or aesthetic gripes. The wind farm talk here - just a few blocks from Wall Street - was far more focused on money. More than 200 developers, investors, lawyers and industry leaders from around the world met in Manhattan's financial district yesterday to open a two-day workshop on financing wind power.

Go to the capecodonline.com website for the rest of the story.

Cape Wind accepted by New England power grid

October 13, 2005
By Jack Coleman
Cape Cod Today

Reliability Committee of 270-member ISO New England votes unanimously in favor of accepting electricity from offshore wind farm.

Once again, the Cape Wind project has received approval for a critical aspect of its proposal to build the nation's first offshore wind farm in the waters off Cape Cod. ISO New England, the nonprofit corporation that coordinates the region's supply of electricity, has approved Cape Wind's plan for power generated from its 130 turbines to be integrated into the regional grid.

Go to capecodtoday.com website for the rest of the article.

Boston Turbine Sparks Interest in Wind Technology

September 2005 Journal
IBEW.org

Skyward-gazing Boston-area commuters looked up one May day and wondered whether it was a bird or a plane that moved in rhythmic cycles just off the Southeast Expressway in Dorchester. But four months after the big white windmill started churning, the 15-story turbine has become part of the New England landscape. The wind turbine is only the latest renewable energy-generating technology to be added to Boston Local 103’s training center. Three years ago, the local installed a 5.4 kilowatt solar system on the center’s roof. The local expanded from that initial foray into renewable energy technology to win work installing solar energy in commercial, industrial and residential buildings throughout eastern Massachusetts.

Read more at the ibew.org website.

WIND    Power and Process, Conservation and Regulation 

From the VCS 2005 Winter Newsletter

On December 6, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held a hearing on Martha's Vineyard to gather public responses to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposal to construct 130 wind turbines in the Nantucket Sound. As the Vineyard's environmental watchdog, VCS was there, and presented testimony regarding the project and the process as a whole.

First, we pointed out that for the public interest to be served, the Army Corps review process must address the central question of what kinds of development should be permitted in our offshore waters. Projects such as the wind farm should not be considered in isolation, but rather within the framework of guiding regulatory principles.

Secondly, we noted the crucial importance of conservation in the energy equation, which has been under-emphasized by project advocates and opponents alike. We urged that the passion generated by the wind farm issue be translated into an equally passionate commitment to energy conservation and efficiency in our daily lives.

Thirdly, we addressed head-on the fact that the applicant’s strategy has had the effect of dividing the environmental community, and that such a strategy should itself be regarded as a project detriment. We also noted that, despite the proponents' slogan “Our Wind Farm, Our Future,” this would in fact not be our wind farm, but rather a private, for-profit commercial enterprise in our Nantucket Sound. To frame an alternative vision, we cited the comments made by Soren Hermanson, Director of the Samso Island Energy Office in Denmark, at an event organized by the Vineyard Energy Project and co-sponsored by VCS: “Local ownership is the essential thing in wind development. With local ownership of wind power, the citizens are the owners. You can’t let others take the profits away.”

We concluded by observing that renewable energy, including wind power, will be essential in a healthy and sustainable future. But we strongly disagreed with the position that, absent general policies regarding both energy conservation and offshore development, it is somehow appropriate for entrepreneurs to operate indiscriminately. We urged the Army Corps to initiate a much-needed discussion about the lack of coherent policy for the use of our public waters, and about whether commercial activity such as that proposed by Cape Wind should have a place in them.

Samso Island, Denmark

Feature: Introducing Samso Island
Beautiful Samso Island in Denmark. The tourist bureau here bills it as “the living, green island.”
Riding bicycles home on one of Samso’s winding roads, for a moment you could almost be on South Road in Chilmark. As you pass by secret harbors, rolling fields, green pastures with herds of livestock, lush clusters of evergreens and cozy homes, you notice smoke billowing slowly from chimneys and the blue-green sea glittering in the distance. Cars going much too fast pass you on the road. These are familiar. Yet on Samso, around the bend are 200 solar panels and a biomass district heating plant. Mixed in with the farmlands are square fields of tall reeds that biologically process wastewater. And then there are the windmills. Samso has 11 massive land-based wind turbines and another 10, even bigger, in the sea just a few miles off the south shore. This pristine little island in the middle of Denmark is known world-wide as the Danish “Renewable Energy” Island.

Vineyarders learned about Samso at the Island Energy Workshop held this past winter at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury. Organized by the Vineyard partnership of the US Dept. of Energy Million Solar Roofs program, the event was spearheaded by local architect and solar advocate Kate Warner. Ms. Warner designed the workshop to help the Vineyard community understand our relationship with energy and investigate what role renewable energy might play in providing for our energy needs. As part of this exploration, the workshop shared examples from other communities, of which Samso was one.

The Samso Story
As Samso native Soren Hermansen explained at the workshop, the Samso renewable energy story began in 1996, when the Danish government adopted an energy action plan called Energy 21. One of the targets of the plan was to have 35% of Denmark’s consumption of energy covered by renewable sources by 2030. The Danes realized that a dramatic shift to renewable energy would be economically unrealistic in the short term, yet they believed in gathering new experience in power generation. With this goal in mind, they decided to demonstrate the possibility of a small community basing its entire energy supply on renewable energy. Thus, in 1997, the Renewable Energy Island project was born. Island communities were invited to submit applications for a national competition to become Denmark’s, and the world’s first, renewable energy island.

Deciding whether to support the application to become a Renewable Energy Island demanded that the local Samso community come together and take a hard, realistic look at what such a conversion could be expected to entail. In the end, the local municipality saw several good reasons why they ought to apply: they already saw themselves as a green island with a tendency to follow green schemes; they had practically no industries posing environmental threats; they believed they would be able to contribute to solving renewable energy questions; and they anticipated a likely positive impact on job opportunities during both the construction phase and later for operation and maintenance.

The first step in the process, which started before the application was filed, was to found the Samso Energiselskab. This was a company consisting of representatives appointed by the local municipality, industry interests, agricultural interests and local association for energy and the environment. The Energiselskab endeavored at all times to ensure that the overall energy plan would be carried out with due consideration to local issues. This new company, with two paid staff and a number of volunteers, set about creating an association, disseminating information, enrolling membership and organizing an “energy shop” and office. They agreed that Samso would continue the work of becoming self-sufficient irrespective of the outcome of the “Renewable Energy Island” application process, though of course they hoped to win the government’s support.

By early 1998, to the delight of the newly-formed association, Samso won the privilege. By this time, the association counted 100+ members, employed an energy consultant and had found space for a shop and office.

Now the real work began. During the first year, the association held endless meetings and workshops presenting concepts and offering opportunities for discussion and debate. They assisted in forming working and study groups with the goal of joining the community forces together in a common cause. Locals agree that the project never would have been a success were it not for the dedication and hard work of the community.

During the first five years of the project, Samso has become 100% self-supplied by electricity from 11 1MW land-based wind turbines and a number of smaller individual farm and home turbines. More than 200 individual solar/biomass/heat pumps installations have been built. Heating supply is based mainly on district and neighborhood heating plants using solar heat, ground heat and biomass fuel such as straw and woodchips. A rapeseed press has recently been purchased to allow for converting locally-grown rapeseed into oil that can be used as fuel in converted diesel engines.

To compensate for the fossil fuels that cannot be directly converted into biofuels or other forms of renewable energy, such as the oil used for the ferries and individual cars and trucks, 10 2.3MW offshore wind turbines were erected south of the island. These are jointly owned by a total of 350 owners and a municipality with 4300 inhabitants. The individual wind turbines have been sold to a number of investors in different organizational structures. The production from the offshore wind turbines is sold to the utility through an undersea cable connecting Samso to the mainland, and a power purchase agreement guarantees a certain price for a ten-year period.

Our Common Future
Samso’s conversion to a renewable energy island is an achievement unique in the modern world, and it is a story that sets a standard for our common future. Many factors have contributed to the island’s success, and some of these, including the significant government support, are exceptional to Denmark. Yet for all the differences between this Danish island and our island, there are nearly as many similarities. This is particularly true with respect to the make-up of the community. Samso does not differ much from the Vineyard when it comes to different attitudes and values.

On Samso, the local people understood the collective good in converting to renewable energy; they accepted the challenge and worked together to make the dream of being self-sufficient with energy into a reality. Inspired by their perseverance and accomplishments, we are challenged to initiate for ourselves similar practices that will ultimately lead us down our own distinctive path towards sustainability.

Samso Island Facts
Location: Central Denmark
Area: 114 sq. km
Year-round population: 4,287
Public tourist bed-nights: 500,000
Annual electricity consumption: 28,000 MWh/year
Land-based wind turbines: 11 1MW (produce 100% of annual consumption)
Offshore wind turbines: 10 2.3MW (estimated to produce 7,765,000 kWh/year, giving a park production of 77,659 MWh/year)
Heating supply: 250 houses have individual installations such as solar heating, heat pumps, stoves and wood burners
3 district heating plants based on straw, wood ships and solar heating

Wind Energy Links

Vineyard UnPlugged - The Vineyard Energy Project Inc. mission is to encourage sustainable energy choices through education, outreach, and renewable energy projects.

WindPower.org is the most visited section of this web site. It has more than 100 pages on wind, turbine siting, technology, electrical grid, environmental and economic aspects of wind energy and history.

Mass Renewable Energy Trust Fund.  The State's developmental agency for renewable energy and innovative economy.

The American Wind Energy Association has a new advocacy/action site.

Cape Wind Associates
Cape Wind Associates is the development company proposing to build a wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal. Cape Wind is a partnership between Energy Management Inc. and Wind Management LLC. EMI, headquartered in Boston, and has built and managed six gas-fired electric plants in New England. Principals of Wind Management, headquartered in South Yarmouth on Cape Cod, have developed, financed and operated several of the largest wind parks in Europe.

The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound
“The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound is a fully qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit coalition of concerned citizens, businesses, towns and local government and civic groups opposing the private industrialization of Nantucket Sound, a public resource, by a massive wind power plant.”

Cape and Islands Offshore Wind Public Outreach Initiative
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), an independent economic development organization that promotes renewable energy in the Commonwealth, is soliciting input on the issues associated with the nation’s first offshore wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound. Raab Associates, Ltd. is maintaining a web site for MTC to inform the public about this process. To find out more about this five-month information gathering click on the above link.

Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
“The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) is an independent, economic development organization established to enhance the Commonwealth’s knowledge-based Innovation Economy. In addition, MTC administers the Renewable Energy Trust, which was established to promote the appropriate supply and use of renewable energy sources such as wind turbines, solar, hydroelectric and fuel cells.”

Cape Cod Technology Council, Inc
“The Cape Cod Technology Council, Inc. is an organization of technology-based companies located on Cape Cod – from Plymouth to Provincetown. Our members firms are involved in the development, marketing, delivery, or support of technology and technology-based products and services.”

Renewable Energy Research Laboratory (RERL) at UMass Amherst
“The RERL exists to promote education and research in renewable energy technologies and focuses chiefly on wind energy in New England, including: offshore wind power issues, resource assessment, renewable energy software development, hybrid power systems, wind turbine dynamics and control, and wind farm siting and performance.”

Cape Cod Technology Council, Inc
“The Cape Cod Technology Council, Inc. is an organization of technology-based companies located on Cape Cod – from Plymouth to Provincetown. Our members firms are involved in the development, marketing, delivery, or support of technology and technology-based products and services.”

American Wind Energy Association
http://www.awea.org

GE Wind Energy
http://www.gepower.com/wind/en-_us/ge_wind_energy/index.html

National Wind Coordinating Committee
http://nationalwind.org/
Sandia National Laboratories - Wind Energy Technology
http://www.sandia.gov/wind/
Second Wind Inc.
http://www.secondwind.com/
US DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
http://www.eren.doe.gov/bro/
US National Renewable Energy Laboratory
http://www.nrel.gov/
US National Wind Technology Center
http://www.nrel.gov/wind/
TowerKill.com
“This web site is a response to the above [bird killing] situation which has blindsided everyone - conservationists, industry, and federal agencies alike. It is the goal of this site to serve as an information resource on the towerkill problem and to promote cooperative solutions for mitigating the needless slaughter of millions of songbirds every year.
www.towerkill.comInternational Wind LINKS
The British Wind Energy Association Offshore Wind Farms
http://www.offshorewindfarms.co.uk/index.html
Danish Wind Turbine Manufactures
http://www.windpower.dk/
European Wind Energy Association
http://www.ewea.org
Vestas Wind Systems
http://www.vestas.dk/
Wind Power Monthly
http://www.wpm.co.nz
Papers from Offshore Wind Residential Course held July 2002 in Cambridge, England.
Programme: http://click.cminteractive.com/?1QRYDfzl4=754724
Papers from Wind Power Europe held 9-10 December 2002 in Madrid, Spain.
Programme: http://click.cminteractive.com/?1QRYDfzzA=754724 Energy, Clean Air, Ocean & Climate Change LINKS
Alliance to Save Energy offers a guide to energy-auditing your home or business, available at www.ase.org/checkup/home/
Union of Concerned Scientists
“UCS is an independent nonprofit alliance of 50,000 concerned citizens and scientists across the country. We augment rigorous scientific analysis with innovative thinking and committed citizen advocacy to build a cleaner, healthier environment and a safer world.”
http://www.ucsusa.org
Energy Program of the Union of Concerned Scientists
http://www.ucsusa.org/energy/energy-home.html
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Toxics
http://www.epa.gov/air/toxicair/index.html
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Change http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/

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