Samsø Totally Explained

Everything about Sams totally explained

Samsø is a Danish island in the Kattegat 15 kilometers (9 miles) off the Jutland Peninsula. Samsø is located in Samsø municipality. The community has 4124 inhabitants (2006) and is 114 km² in area. Due to its central location, the island was used during the Viking Age as a meeting place. The name of the island stems from this time. The word "samle" means to gather and "ø" is the Danish word for island.

General information

The island is very popular among French, Welsh and Irish people for strawberry picking during the months of June and July every year. In Denmark, the island is well-known for its early potatoes. The first few pounds of potatoes usually fetch prices around £100, and are considered a great delicacy. Ballen's beach and village are popular with visitors; it's served by the bus which runs around the island, including the ferry terminals. In clear weather, you can see the peninsula of Helgenæs to the north. Geographically, the island is divided into three areas:

the North Island
the Stavns Fjord
the South Island

Renewable Energy

In 1997 the island won a competition for a 10 year project to see if it's practical to generate all the energy from Renewable Energy alone. Because it's an island that has no conventional energy resources of its own, Samsø was an ideal choice for such a controlled experiment.
   To date this has mainly been done by using wind power, but notably by involving the islanders, who are shareholders in many of the turbines. With the completion of an offshore wind farm comprising 10 turbines, Samsø has become carbon neutral. The energy produced by these wind turbines compensates for the island’s transportation emissions, including the ferries, and all other non-renewable energy sources. Sometimes Samsø’s wind turbines produce so much energy that the island sells it back to the mainland. The people of Samsø heat their homes with grass burned in a central heating system and they power their vehicles on biofuel which they also grow. Since 1998, Samsø began converting its energy into renewable energy, and has been so successful that 100% of its electricity comes from wind power and 75% of its heat comes from solar power and biomass energy. An Energy Academy is now open in Ballen - with a visitor center and including educational perspectives.
   Samsø is entirely self-sufficient for its electricity, 100% of which is generated by 11 one-megawatt wind turbines installed on land in 2000, while 70% of its heating comes from solar panels, hay and biomass.
   The island is also "carbon-neutral", which means that it offsets its own carbon-dioxide emissions by investing in Kyoto Protocol-style projects that reduce pollution elsewhere. Samsø became carbon-neutral in 2003 when they installed 10 offshore wind turbines that generate 2,3 megawatts each, which enabled them to compensate for 140% of emissions from transport on the island by offering offshore electricity to the rest of Denmark. The Danish government in 1997 designated Samsø to become a "sustainable energy island" by 2008, a goal it already achieved in 2003 -- five years ahead of schedule -- by fully involving the 4 200 residents in the ambitious objective.

Norse mythology

On this island, Saxo Grammaticus relates that there was a legendary battle when the Swedish champion Hjalmar and his friend Orvar-Odd fought against the twelve sons of the Swedish berserker Arngrim. This battle was once famous, since it also figures in Faroese ballads, in Orvar-Odd's saga and in Hervarar saga.
According to the Hervarar saga and the Waking of Angantyr, the mounds of the slain beserkers were haunted. This didn't stop Arngrim's granddaughter Hervor from approaching the mounds and demanding the enchanted sword Tyrfing from her father Angantyr.

Further Information

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