[Vision2020] The Danish Island that went Carbon Negative

[Ted Moffett]

Thanks for this article.

On the subject of carbon negative...

Carbon negative biofuel power plants that employ carbon capture and
sequestration (CCS) might be a solution to lowering atmospheric CO2 levels.
However, some of the same problems that coal fired power plants face with
implementing CCS (cost, safe long term storage of millions of tons of CO2)
could be present.

An interesting academic article on this subject is at this website.
Biochar, also presented in this article, is a not widely discussed way to
address the CO2 problem:

http://www.mgsm.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/f18b88004bd3ebcbbe60bff6e33eda3b/Carbon-negative+biofuels.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
-------------------

Coal fired electric plants with high percentage CCS could go a long way
towards reducing US oil dependence and CO2 emissions, with expansion of
electric vehicles, along with expansion of nuclear power for electricity.
The US has more coal than any other nation.  Coal gasification is also an
alternative to oil for powering the transportation system, but this does not
solve the CO2 emission problem.  Coal extraction, however, especially
mountaintop removal, is too environmentally destructive.

So far, "Clean Coal" is greenwash as far as CO2 emissions are concerned.  It
has yet to be demonstrated that massive coal electric power can be provided
with high percentage CCS, partly because CCS drives up the cost of
electricity, and partly because of the storage problem of the millions of
tons of CO2 generated.

The coal industry's "Clean Coal" campaign is misleading, if not outright
fraudulent.

Note that there is no massive advertising campaign, like the "Clean Coal"
campaign, to promote expansion of nuclear power.
------------------------------------------
Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett

On 6/10/10, nickgier at roadrunner.com <nickgier at roadrunner.com> wrote:
>
> Greetings Visionaries,
>
> This is my radio commentary/column for this week.  The full version
> (attached) will appear (with pictures I hope) on the front page of the
> Insight section of the Sunday Idaho State Journal. The PDF allows the
> printing of those lovely Danish letters.
>
> Perhaps some of you caught the new public information show on PBS the other
> night.  The segment on the island of Samsoe (oe= "o" with a slash through
> it) inspired me to write this piece.
>
> Read all of my columns on green energy, global warming, and the environment
> at www.home.roadrunner.com/~nickgier/green.htm
>
> Yours for a greener future,
>
> Nick
>
> THE DANISH ISLAND THAT WENT CARBON NEGATIVE
>
> Denmark is primarily a nation of 444 islands, 76 of them inhabited.  The
> capital Copenhagen is located on the largest island Zealand, and the second
> largest island Funen is the home of Hans Christian Andersen. These days the
> Danish island most in the news is Samsoe, situated between Jutland and
> Zealand. Twice the size of Manhattan, the island used to be known mainly for
> its delicious strawberries and potatoes.
>
> Today the Samsingers, as the 4,200 people on Samsoe call themselves, are
> the first in the industrialized world to reach a carbon negative
> state.  They used to be totally dependent on petroleum imports and
> electricity from coal-fired plants on the mainland. Before 1998 each
> Samsinger was responsible for 11 metric tons of CO2 released into the
> atmosphere. Annually each American puts 19 metric tons into the air.
>
> By installing wind turbines, solar panels, and burning biomass in "closed"
> furnaces, the Samsingers have now reduced their CO2 emissions by 140
> percent. By 2005 they had reached 100 percent and had attained carbon
> neutrality. The additional 40 percent reduction means that they are now
> carbon negative: they are exporting more energy than they consume.
>
> In 1997 the Samsingers thought they had a good chance to win a national
> competition for "Renewable Energy Island." An engineer came over from the
> mainland and did some wind and sunshine studies, and together they sent
> their proposal off to Copenhagen. They won the competition and the prize was
> $90 million in grants from the Danish government over ten years. The
> government gave the Samsingers full reign in deciding how to increase their
> energy efficiency.
>
> Raising 80 percent of their own capital, the residents installed 11
> one-megawatt wind turbines and set up many smaller household turbines.  Most
> of the turbines are cooperatively owned and those shareholders include 1,100
> of the 50,000 tourists who visit the island during the summers. Each year
> the island uses 26 million kilowatt hours, but there is 80 million kilowatt
> hours left over that is sold to the national grid for $8 million a year.
>
> To off-set the 690,000 gallons of gas and diesel still used in their cars,
> tractors, and ferries, the Samsingers invested in 10 sea-based 2.3 megawatt
> wind turbines, which greet visitors as they arrive at the ferry terminal.
>
> The Samsingers are expanding their biogas production to include methane
> from pig waste, and they are also experimenting with the production of
> hydrogen, which can be used to run fuel cells. A century ago Danish
> scientist Paul La Cour used wind mills to produce hydrogen for the lights at
> Askov Folk High School.  Under his leadership wind power produced 3 percent
> of Denmark's electricity by 1918. Cheap oil then put an end to this early
> green development.
>
> Danish scientists, working at a research center once devoted to nuclear
> energy, are again on the cutting edge of hydrogen production. On the Danish
> island of Lolland wind mills are producing 50 percent more power than the
> people consume, so the Lollanders are electrolyzing water to produce
> hydrogen and oxygen, which is used to speed up the treatment of the island’s
> sewage.
>
> Along with Israel, Denmark is starting to build charging stations for
> electric vehicles, so these cars will soon be on Danish highways in greater
> numbers than elsewhere. The Danish government is waiving the 200 percent
> excise tax on conventional vehicles to encourage Danes to switch to electric
> transportation.
>
> Teaming up with the American company Better Place, Danish utility Dong
> Energy is laying out $103 million for 500,000 charging stations and 150
> battery swap depots strategically located for longer trips. One might ask
> why Better Place is not doing business with U.S. utilities, and the answer
> is that, except for negotiations with Hawaii and San Francisco, there is
> neither the political will nor the government support to make innovation
> such as this happen.
>
> On the Danish island of Bornholm an experiment with "vehicle-to-grid" power
> storage is now in place for the 40,000 inhabitants.  Parked vehicles will
> serve as storage for the excess wind power produced on the island.  When the
> weather is calm, electricity flows back into the grid making unnecessary the
> reliance on coal-fired plants. Only 400,000 electric cars used in this
> manner would be needed to take up the slack when Denmark’s 5,200 turbine
> rotors are not turning.
>
> The Samsingers, the Lollanders, and Bornholmers, mostly conservative
> farmers, say that they are just ordinary people. Their challenge is that if
> they can become carbon neutral, then anyone on earth can follow their
> lead.  With sufficient political will and cooperative effort every nation
> could kick its petroleum habit and planet earth could be saved from
> ecological disaster.
>
> Nick Gier taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years.
>
>
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