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Oct. 18, 2011 — Søren Hermansen, the individual behind the highly successful development of wind energy on the small island of Samsø in Denmark, will give a free public presentation at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25, in Ford Chapel at Allegheny College. Hermansen, who serves as director of Samsø Energy Academy, will speak on “Achieving Energy Independence: Denmark’s Wind Energy Island.”

In 1997 the Danish government offered a challenge to five populated islands to cut their carbon footprint and increase production of renewable energy. Samsø, an island of 4,100 people west of Copenhagen, won the contest. The effort was spearheaded by Hermansen, a former high school environmental studies teacher, who attended community meetings to promote the benefits of clean energy.

Hermansen set up investment plans for island residents to buy shares in large-scale wind turbines, solar panel systems and straw-fired district heating plants. Today, Samsø exports wind-powered electricity to the Danish mainland and has cut its carbon footprint 140 percent.

Most residents of the island still use gasoline for their cars, which represents the last challenge to achieving energy independence. In the meantime, wind power exports more than offset the carbon from Samsø’s tailpipe emissions. The island’s energy revolution now draws thousands of visitors from around the world eager to learn more about community-based renewable energy development.

In 2008 Time Magazine named Hermansen one of its “Heroes of the Environment.” In 2009 he was awarded the Gothenburg Award, considered the Nobel Prize for sustainable development.

During several days at Allegheny Hermansen will team-teach a mini-course on wind energy and sustainable development with Professor of Environmental Science Terrence Bensel, as well as visit a number of environmental science and other classes. Allegheny has one of the oldest environmental science programs in the country.

Hermansen’s visit to Allegheny is part of the college’s Year of Sustainable Communities, a series of activities, workshops and events aimed at inspiring the campus and community toexamine what makes a community sustainable in the richest sense of the word—that is, able to provide a good quality of life to those who live and work there and to be resilient in the face of challenges. The year’s events will explore many facets of quality of life, including healthy food, the arts, economic resilience and care for the environment.

More information on the Year of Sustainable Communities, including a schedule of events, can be found by visiting www.allegheny.edu/events and clicking on the “Year of” tab.