Should Decorah generate its own power?

Denmark resident Soren Hermansen has been leading an effort to make the island he lives on in Denmark energy self-sufficient.  The goal of the 3,000 residents living there is to rid the island of all fossil fuel use by 2050. The island is currently able to heat homes with biomass and solar heating plants, and gets electricity from onshore and offshore wind turbines.

Hermansen told members of the Winneshiek Energy District Friday morning that it takes a community coming together, doing local planning and getting citizens engaged in order to have such a project.  He told the group, "We were hooked on oil," but Danes now see the wisdom of investing in alternative energy sources, since the price of a barrel of oil has jumped from $30 to $130.  Hermansen's island actually is a net exporter of energy now, since it has several large wind turbines just off shore.

He said that before his island invested in a biomass power plant, it worked on making sure buildings were energy efficient.  Members of the Winneshiek Energy District pointed out to Hermansen that they have been doing similar work for the past four years.