Thisted, Denmark is a rural municipality with 46,000 inhabitants that started going “green” in the 1980s. One hundred percent of the electricity and over 85 percent of the heating used in the region is generated using natural resources. Electricity is 80 percent wind-generated and the rest is from biogas and power plants that run on industrial and household waste, which also supplies heat. The balance of the heating comes from hay incineration and geothermal sources.
Jeremy Rifkin, President of the Foundation of Economic Trends says, “It [Thisted] is a lighthouse, but we want to go from pilots to the entire grid being like Thisted. So instead of this just being a good example, this should just be the beginning of laying out similar plans in every community across the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere.
Power to the people!”
The Environmental Atlas of Europe is a UNEP-EEA-ESA joint project showcasing communities responding to environmental change across Europe. The films present a series of these inspirational stories about how people are responding to climate change and in so doing, transforming their lives for a more sustainable future.
Produced by Ace & Ace, Denmark, in cooperation with the European Environment Agency (EEA), United Nations Environment Programme UNEP and the European Space Agency (ESA).
