Is this island the best in the world?

Not a lot of people know the tiny island of Bornholm, Denmark. But it may be the greenest island in the world. It has turned its economy around by investing in sustainable business and is set to become one of the first carbon neutral islands in the world.
#PlanetA #Bornholm #Sustainability
Credits:
Reporter: Kiyo Dörrer
Camera + video editor: Henning Goll
Supervising Editors: Michael Trobridge, Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann
Read more:
EU sustainable island prize: clean-energy-islands.ec.europ...
Molten salt energy storage plan: www.hyme.energy/project/2lipp
Guide to Bornholm: bornholm.info/
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:48 The revival plan
02:13 Reducing waste
05:49 Producing their own energy
09:15 The remaining problem
10:15 Making sustainability worthwhile
11:42 Conclusion
Many thanks for the additional interviews to Trine Richter from Green Solutions House and Jacob Trøst, mayor of Bornholm.

[@DWPlanetA]

What do you think are other contenders for the greenest island?

[@tomjohnston3393]

Are they really the greenest island? What about the carbon impact of making and eventually replacing the wind turbines?

[@frontified]

uninhabited islands

[@thesilentone4024]

I see lots of horizontal wind turbines why don't they use vertical ones they work in slower and faster winds they are 15 to 20% more efficient and kill 20 to 25% less birds and 40% less if they use a black blade where the other 1 with 1 black blade.

[@Charlie-gf4mv]

@@tomjohnston3393 Wind turbines, including the emissions have about a 20x smaller carbon impact than conventional fossil fuels per KWh over their lifetime. DW planet literally just made a video about these myths.

[@climatechange6513]

Australia in 10 years. South Australia is already there.

[@SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

5:58 I absolutely love that you mentioned the desire for “energy independence”. In the US we often use this as an excuse to just drill for more oil, but true independence would be just making energy right in your own backyard or even on your own roof! Need more people to start adopting this attitude.

[@jensstergard9380]

Energy independence makes sense in isolated communities which Bornholm is only partly. The idea of making e.g. a household independent is often very irrational as bigger supplying plants are much more efficient.

[@soraiya2065]

Arent they now doing deep-sea mining and destroying ocean beds for the minerals needed for building solar panels and other green energy devices? Theres no simple solution to the ever-growing demand for energy.

[@nick_0]

If the US wants to be energy dependant it absolutely needs nuclear fusion, if not, at the least nuclear fission. The US has a lot of thorium, thus it won't need to worry about sourcing uranium, and for fussion, it's just seawater

[@gcvrsa]

The US installed base of "renewable" power generation dwarfs that of the entire nation of Denmark, which is home to less than 6 million people, fewer than live in NYC, alone, fewer than live in the US state of Maryland. The US has, in fact, the second-largest installed base of renewable power generation after China, which only recently surpassed the US. Denmark's total renewable power generation capacity in 2021 was a mere 10,340 MW, compared to the US' 61,014 MW in 2021, which is nearly twice what Denmark produces from all sources, renewable and non-renewable, combined.

[@rhoddryice5412]

@@soraiya2065 When you drill for oil and gas or excavate coal you destroy even more habits.

[@pjacobsen1000]

My brother lives on Bornholm. He might agree. They've got some nice, old fishing villages, good seafood, good beaches and a general landscape that is pleasing to the eye. Bornholm is a center for artsy-crafty things: Ceramics, glass blowing, painting.

[@pigeonlove]

By "fishing" you mean whale slaughter

[@jensstergard9380]

@@pigeonlove I suppose that was a question. I can tell the answer is no.

[@pjacobsen1000]

@@pigeonlove It's pretty rare to see a whale in the Baltic Sea. If people really did establish several villages in order to fish for whales, they would have been sorely disappointed with the results.

[@MrAstrojensen]

@@pigeonlove 😆I think you're confusing Bornholm with the Faroe islands. We don't hunt for whales here. There aren't even any real whales here in the first place, only small porpoises, and they're quite rare and illegal to hunt.

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots

[@ChristofferETJ]

I love living on Bornholm! And while we are not that many full time residents, every year we welcome back many returning guests. Some people have returned several times yearly for several decades. That said, here is a selection of errors and unaddressed subjects: • Transportation to the island is not green. Especially the fast ferries! In fact, if you have the choice between flying or taking a fast ferry to Bornholm, the aeroplane might be the less polluting option. If you want to travel less unsustainably, the modern ferry Hammershus (daily sailings to Køge and most of the year to Sassnitz) is a comfortable and reliable choice. The Povl Anker, featured in the video, is also not a bad choice. It is quite old and not very efficient. But it sails at an economical speed on its summer crossings to Sassnitz. There are of course projects underway to better the situation. • Public transportation on Bornholm is by diesel buses only. And the service is infrequent, unreliable, and expensive. Four electric buses are on order, and more will be ordered as soon as a government grant is approved. Probably. • There actually a good amount of public EV charging available. You may not be able to find them all in one app, but there are plenty. And considering the size of the island, if there is a charger at your lodging, you won't need it anyway. • Cardboard and everything else. Those are the only two fractions picked up at present. Why? Because lowest bidder failed. And now the previous contract holder will be using their worn out diesel trucks for at least three years longer than planned. • The recycling centres are great though. And open for self service 24/7/364. • Electricity is indeed delivered via an undersea cable from Sweden. Sometimes though, some idiots drag their anchor along the seabed and cut it. When this happens, diesel generators provide backup power. And the local grid alone is incapable of handling the varying output from wind and solar! • The massive amounts of off-shore wind power planned will also include new undersea cables. And it's actually both a huge government project and a smaller independent local project. The government project is definitely happening. But there is resistance against the large area needed for transformers and such. That's where I'll end it for now. I may answer your questions, if you ask politely.

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots

[@bocadelcieloplaya3852]

why not sum geothermal for district heating on Bornholm?

@@YangwanAuto Uninhabited? There is 40.000 peole living on Bornholm. Pointless? It's in the middle of the Baltic sea, a very strategic location.

[@jdillon8360]

Hello Christoffer. Can you tell me, how many wind turbines are there on Bornholm? Is it true that people don't like to look at them, and that is why newer turbines are being built in the sea? I personally love them, and would rather live next to a field of wind turbines than live next to a coal-fired power station.

[@michaelgiannakoulis1777]

These little documentaries about places/events/people are so great. Keep them coming DW.

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots

[@RegebroRepairs]

Best vacation of my childhood was on Bornholm. It's lovely.

[@larsrons7937]

The same here. One week every summer, in the 1970's. An amazing island.

[@Judah132]

Government is pretty efficient in Denmark as well, also Bornholm is a single municipality wich means administration is very centralised.

[@agent7dk793]

@@YangwanAuto They are real people too

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots

[@arkhammemery4712]

@@YangwanAuto uneducated

[@dennywiseau7762]

@@YangwanAuto Det er en ringe sammenligning. Da japanerne kom til Nanjing blev det også en ligegyldig og ubeboet provins. Men heldigivis lærte kineserne af deres fejl og bukker nu dybt og nidkært for alle de møder så de har mulighed for at kopiere deres teknologi og undgå at blive kneppet i røven igen.

[@harley258]

@@YangwanAuto - Panama and Bhutan are only carbon neutral because of huge amounts of forests, that store the carbon. A 'solution' not suited all countries, especially those not blessed with said natural conditions. And Costa Rica is officially only said to become carbon neutral in 2050. ' Bornholm is interesting because the technologies and ideas used there could be applied to every other country in the world, especially those countries who don't have an abundance of trees and forests.

[@darnaryelfantaisie5737]

9:40 I'm quite confused. There was no mention of public transportation which seems to me to be the obvious solution to the problem with expensive electric vehicles. Investing in public transportation is proven to drastically reduce to reliance in fossil fuels while also making sense in a social consideration, since everybody can therefore feel more easily connected. Is there a reason why this wasn't mentioned? 🤔 Great video nonetheless. 😌👌🏿✨

[@snivader]

electric bikes as well, they're a lot cheaper and can fulfill a lot of the functionality with e-cargo bikes and the like, meaning you dont need cars.

[@varbaek]

Denmark already has really good public transportation. With that said there will always be some jobs that require more flexible transportation than public. A lot but not all Danes have electric bikes as they typically cost 3000$ which are also stolen very often compared to a regular bicycle you can get for 500$ which is almost never stolen.

[@varbaek]

Most base models of electric vehicles start at around 40,000$ USD for a small car and brand like Opel.

[@thijmstickman8349]

Checking on the map they do indeed have bus lines going between the towns on the island. No trains/trams though and its ver infrequent (1 bus an hour for each bus line)

[@bagelmaster8]

Electric buses especially seem perfect. Low volume, infrequent driving because of the small population means they could spend more time parked acting as giant backup batteries during renewable off periods. Like the experiment with the cars they mentioned in the video but on a larger scale.

[@Sedna063]

Spend my childhood summers here. Totally agree

[@RonakDhakan]

Another island doing great in terms of energy is Orkney north of UK mainland. Bornholm was not as great as I was expecting from the video title.

[@edwardlsanders]

The Orkneys is quiet a phenomenon. Everyone in the UK is watching their energy revolution with interest. At every state of the UK's green development what happens countrywide has been already done a decade before in the Orkneys.

[@pjacobsen1000]

Nowhere in Denmark is great in winter. In summer it's a different matter entirely.

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots

[@CookingPhilosophy]

Such a wonderful video. Really fascinating projects they are working on. I would love to see those ideals carried out elsewhere

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots

[@michasosnowski5918]

Love Denmark. Their apporach to environment is leading the Europe.

[@houring2542]

Im so happy to see your videos talk direcly and indirectly about the importance of education and awareness. change is always hard it takes a lot of time hard work etc but if you are commitment it is possible. Also when your eyes get use too see turbin or solar panel, electric car and most importantly waste management you feel something in your mind that pushes you forward to responsibilities. Plus I love this part 11:05 people have to be able to afford to become green, for small island changing is way easier than the big populated cities. lastly, I am sure in this island there isnt that much remarkable gap between the population. so since there is a good economy level, environment becomes a priority.

[@peterweller8583]

I admire the efforts

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots

[@morrisonmeister]

Other contenders might be the 1000's of islands with entirely self efficient indigenous people who have lived that way for 1'000's of years.

[@setdizonro]

There is also like this in Japan. They pursuing zero waste. So clean and beautiful island

[@mnp3713]

Bornholm was very wealthy during the 60-80ties due to enormus landings of especially Cod - now there are none left. one of Denmarks richest families are fishermen from Bornholm

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots

[@MtsHumming]

Didn't Bhutan kick out all those nepali farmers who for generations did organic gardening. Solar parabola cooking was okay, but hard for making tarkari, thermal collection better for baking or drying small industry or had to biomass coal plants.

[@iGottaRandomName]

​@@YangwanAuto Probably because the usual viewers are from first world countries and showing another first world country finding relevant solutions for problems they recognise, makes more sense?

[@philiptaylor7902]

I’m a bit underwhelmed to be honest. Burning waste and biomass is still releasing carbon dioxide that could be sequestration somehow. Once they get their new offshore wind farms, large scale molten salt storage and EV charging infrastructure sorted and move domestic heating to heat pumps, then it will be very impressive.

[@hydroboy17]

Imagine the cost per capita 💀

[@jensstergard9380]

@@hydroboy17 Everything can be done more efficient in larger communities.

[@sneaky_krait7271]

@@hydroboy17 Real cost or initial investment? While expensive to buy at first, (some) save in the long run

[@AnalystPrime]

CO2 sequestration tech needs more improvements before it works well enough or is worth using instead of simply investing the money in reducing the amount of CO2 produced in the first place. Burning waste and wood pollutes less than burning fossil fuels for both energy and for transporting that waste elsewhere. Only when you have a surplus of greener options so there is no need to burn stuff for extra energy can you consider spending even more energy on less useful methods like carbon capture and recycling unimportant materials.

[@Randomgen77]

To be fair, at least it’s biomass carbon that’s roughly net neutral; that is, it was CO2 in the air recently before becoming wood chips. Certainly better than fossil carbon. If they could do BECCS (biomass energy+carbon capture+sequestration) that would be a very big achievement; some would argue that would be net-negative carbon, even. I’m not sure if/where Northern Europe has the geographic features for carbon sequestration.

[@ScottJB]

I love Bornholm. Good people, good place. Glad they're doing this. Much love from Utah, USA.

[@StephenAndrichuk]

Great video! Really enjoyed it

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots.

[@abdulsoleh7131]

This video is so much better than the last one you upload.

[@SisterSunny]

really well done!

[@sarcasmo57]

Great job!

[@hbt5427]

Great video!

[@mjoelnir1899]

the moniker greenest island could also apply to a far more northern island, Iceland. 85% green energy overall and 100% green energy for production of electricity.

[@cancerino666]

9:43 an island doesn't need cars in the first place for 99% of use cases. the solution is public transit, not electric cars.

[@jelanifinkley6407]

Good reporting very informative video

[@kathleenmead9259]

very inspiring

[@juraj696]

Great to see it works on such a large scale, one problem I see is the molten salt boiler storage, will it not corrode and leak? afaik that is a big issue with those installations. Maybe a sand battery or even a superheated crushed rock would work the same with less dangers?

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots

[@effemmelle]

@DW planet A 6:54 " wood is renewable but it release al lot of CO2"? that's a contradictory information. Wood burning doesn't add fossil CO2 into the atmosphere.

[@DWPlanetA]

Renewable energy means it comes from sources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale - wood included. But wood still does emit a lot of CO2 when burned. You can read up on how much exactly e.g. in this Nature study: tinyurl.com/2p8jzz5z :)

[@tombh74]

@@DWPlanetA they said the wood was locally sourced, and I am sure the forests are allowed to regrow on Bornholm. Using wood for other uses, like buiding material is utimatele a better use than burning it.

[@AnalystPrime]

@@tombh74 Most wood burning PPs these days use sawdust and other waste wood that is left after most of the tree has been utilized for something else or was made from recycled waste wood, like old shipping pallets. There are probably some other uses for that stuff aside burning it, but as a whole the logging should be carbon negative.

[@MtsHumming]

They can mulch some of it to build soils, wood smoke just helps it rain somewhere else. They trees grow faster on the high CO2 solar years. The problem is most country folks just smolder a burn, making the bad smoke. Burn it hot. Work on the next thing while you live another year.

[@nathanngumi8467]

Very interesting!

[@sidali2590]

Cool other countries should follow this green energy technology

[@itzsleazy6903]

Great vid! It would be cool if governments did like partnerships with their surrounding islends to do more research like this. Or even universities now that I think about it. This is also the first time seeing electric cars as storage for cities. It would be so easy for cities to replacate this with just a few government buildings to experiment.

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots

[@r1h2qzx]

Don't be alarmed when they say that waste is burned; you might not be able to recycle all the time but its a good alternative. It frees up space in landfills and produces electricity. Fumes that would otherwise become air pollutants are turned into an ash that is then used as landfill cover. Waste incineration rocks!

[@hamdanalias6756]

LOVE! I hope one day we can see this practised all over the world, including Malaysia.

[@larsrons7937]

I believe "Vestas" was involved in a wind mill project in Malaysia 10-15 years ago, but I don't know whether the project was realised. They build wind mills all over the globe since 1979, have built over 70,000 to date. Here in Denmark we now get about 60% of our electricity from wind mills. Which by the way, even the fiber glass wings, can now be 100% recycled.

[@ThePilot631]

Recycling is a great idea, many countries could solve their excess waste problem and lack composte with it.

[@Carewolf]

Bornholm was always danish. Denmark almost lost it to Sweden along with the rest of Scania, but the people rose up and refused to be administred by Sweden. So it never changed hands.

[@himynameis6433]

I'm glad to see a solution for storing renewable energy with molten salt!

[@johntakolander8613]

One good way to store heat is using well insulated silos filled with sand and crushed gravel. It is here on You Tube also.

[@DWPlanetA]

There are so many different types of batteries that can help drive the renewable energy transition. Check out our video: How salt and sand could replace lithium batteries 👉 kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6fSk4CiatGXhdU - let us know what you think in the comments 🙃

[@larsrons7937]

@@DWPlanetA Thanks for that recommendation. It happens to be the same link that I opened from your video list a few hours ago and is waiting next in line for me to watch. It certainly looks interesting. Thank you for this informative video on the island of Bornholm. A future topic for DW Palnet A could be the "energy islands" Denmark is planning, one next to Bornholm.

[@theMark5445]

So this sounds a bit like the situation there is still nearly as bad as the rest of Denmark (With that law of being able to pick up things that were going to be trashed/recycled as an exception), but maybe in the future it will be better because that´s what their plans are? I´m pretty sure the rest of Denmark also has equally ambitious plans.

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots

[@MrOskaren]

I lived on this island for most of my life, i actually interviewed someone at the wage management sight about pollution back in grade School .

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots

[@jinpingthebear110]

Kewl story bro

[@azaleabluebell3086]

Thank you for the video. I noticed about the off-shore Wind farms that it would not be enough to make Bornholm energy neutral., however, it's plenty enough to do that. The total electricity for the wind farms is over 3GW., which is enough for 2 million people, Bornholm got 40.000. Most of the energy (if not all) is however being exported and sold to Germany. It would be fair for the families living on Bornholm if they would get free electricity upto let's say 10.000kwh per year, since it's power from local wind farms, it's locally produced. It would also allow people to invest in electric cars as they would get the power for free to charge them around the islands or at home. I really hope that the families living on the island don't get surpassed by large energy deals made by the rest of EU.

[@AdeptMarsupial]

I'm from New Zealand's South Island, and I must say its far better here than the island in this video. Renewable power doesn't been a lot in the scheme of things

[@torichan9872]

Would love to go someday with my mum and siblings! Through my fathers line, my 5x great grandfather was born in Copenhagen, but his parents were born on Bornholm. Supposedly, his maternal grandmothers family were from neighbouring Christiansø.

[@larsrons7937]

My classmate's mother was from Frederiksø, at Crhistiansø. On a school trip to Bornholm in 1980 the whole school class paid his grandfather a visit.

[@torichan9872]

@@larsrons7937 That's so awesome! How common is it for people to be from Christiansø and Bornholm on the mainland? Looking at my tree, it seems my ancestors had stuck to the islands for centuries, with a few lines coming from Pomerania in the mid 1500s

[@larsrons7937]

@@torichan9872 From Ertholmene (Christiansø) is _very_ uncommon. Bornholm is more common, but not more than I only know a few from Bornholm. Pomerania, that's interesting, but actually it's right across the Baltic Sea so that makes sense. We have always been connected across the water ways, in all directions from any coastal country.

[@kyledecker7004]

I think id like to live on an island one day

[@MrArtist7777]

I appreciate their optimism and know Bornholm will go all-clean energy soon, however, not all people want to do the right thing as we have millions of radical right Americans who work tirelessly to stop wind and solar production and do everything they can, to do the wrong thing. It's a constant fight.

[@om-nj2hw]

It s the propaganda machine of the oil industry, and the people believe it

[@sneaky_krait7271]

@@DemPilafian especially now that solar panels are actually cheaper way of energy

[@DavidJBradshaw]

@@DemPilafian the majority of people will only accept the green transition if it doesn’t make them personally poorer. If the only choice is between prosperity and the environment, then the economy will win every time. Rather than wasting time on disruptive protests that only turn people away, environmentalists should be directing all their energy into making green tech the cheapest option. Most people are happy to do the right thing if it doesn’t cost them more.

[@faceybrian404]

@@DavidJBradshaw but what if we're almost reaching a point of no return in regards to the climate? should the economy win over the climate in that case?

[@gaarakabuto1]

@@DavidJBradshaw That's a somewhat naive way of approaching it. Most of the times politicians that oppose green and renewable energy do the dumbest things possible to cause an outburst from environmentalists activists and then use the media to turn things around to make activists look bad. Same goes from people using environmental activists to profit from stupid concepts that sound good as an idea but in papers are impossible to exist. Environmental engineering is in a constant state of cold war with strong highly profitable businesses that will do anything to manipulate the market on their behalf. As an environmental engineer undergraduate the first thing we learn after the basics is finding a way to attract those companies into abusing us to get a somewhat desired result and you can see where the problem is here. When I use the term cold war I sincerely mean it, look at the Texas incident last year that somehow the bad guys were the renewable energy meanwhile the whole energy production centre failed and renewables were the only operating thing (even if it was down to 30-45% operational).

[@korwynze6288]

going through the local trash dump for usable stuff is illegal here in the NL too, its so stupid. there was perfectly fine sets of cups and plates right there, RIGHT. THERE.

[@williamgwyntreharne9966]

Biomass can be used to make charcoal. The limited heat available from this can be used to generate energy by steam or steam turbine. A heat pump can be used.

[@Kalleosini]

5:20 small correction to the subtitles here the gentleman said "to district heating in Rønne" there is no mention of oil. not sure if he meant to say "for district heating" like it says in the subtitles or if he meant to say "to distribute heating" but Rønne is the name of the city, so again nothing to do with oil in that statement.

[@DWPlanetA]

Thanks for your comment and suggestion! After relistening to time code 5:20, we see what you mean and have changed the text to read, "for district heating in Rønne."

[@Kalleosini]

@@DWPlanetA Glad to help!

[@armella_life]

The best island in the world :) My childhood home :)

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots

[@madzen112]

Making an island sustainable must be a dream project for any local politician, Sim Island irl.

[@AT-ytinvasive]

Your suggestions at the end for change were sophomoric.

[@skellurip]

in real need to go to that bofa

[@permacultisdruid3867]

I Love Bornholm.

[@TheValdevor]

Isn't "El Hierro" the spanish island even more "greener"? The island has managed several times to be supplied with 100% renewable energy for several days in a row (The last time I checked it was about a month in a row). This island is approaching total energy independence with CO2 emissions

[@thesilentone4024]

What about the benefits of thirsty concrete to reduce flooding and sand mining helping ecosystems and you. Or how insulation is like r30 at most but really should be r100 minimal because better insulation = less energy demand to cool or heat a home and keep it warm or cool way longer.

[@tombh74]

They didn't talk about insulation, but building standards in scandinavia are very good when it come to insulation. It can however be a challenge to properly insulate the many +100 year old houses on the island.

[@tomkelly8827]

R 30 is a lot of insulation. R100 is not at all a good idea, that is far far too much space taken up by insulation. If the walls were wooden then they would be 100" thick and it would take a whole forest to build one home, it would be 10x10" log homes wrapped around each other. It is a terrible suggestion, that would make the world a much worse place, even though I know you meant well by your comment.

[@m11nt]

I want to install solar panels but the batteries and inverters are so expensive.

[@haardkaar]

It's interesting that dialects shines through when speaking English. Bornholm dialect is strikingly different from the mainland. There's a complete lack of the classic Danglish.

[@florianfaber9799]

@DWPlanetA What do a household pay for electricity? Should be low due a lot of renewables?

[@DWPlanetA]

If the household has its own solar panels it will be less than without. But otherwise it does depend on the overall mix of the energy.

[@tombh74]

Electricity prices would certainly have been higher today without renewables, as the alternative would have been coal and gas.

[@jensstergard9380]

Today the the prices are too high on Bornholm. The company connecting supplier and consumer seems to have a high profit or to be inefficient. They claim the distribution of the few consumers makes it expensive.

[@aditya3465]

So much 'we are planning' to be called as the best island

[@jinpingthebear110]

I gave this comment a like.

[@CUBETechie]

If I where the mayor of this island I would try to find energy intensive industries

[@menice6736]

I live in the Netherlands but my location is always set to Bornholm lmao

[@florinadrian5174]

3:45 It can be worse. In my town, the city hall is paying a company to manage the "recycling" center and the things brought there are their property. They are suppose to recycle them but of course they don't do it properly. Giving objects a chance at reuse or repair (both trumps recycling) is much better for everyone except some corrupt idiots.

[@AzoreanProud]

Have you heard of Graciosa island in Azores?

[@10-OSwords]

It sounds like some places just burn excess waste but there are places that burn waste & somehow turn it into energy. Why isn't that more widely adopted? Are there any downsides?

[@jensstergard9380]

It takes some investment to turn the heat from the waste into electricity. To do it right you also need filters to clean the smoke.

[@SisterSunny]

creates dependence on the method. Incineration is a highly toxic and polluting practice; the idea is to use it as an intermediary between landfills and a circular ecosystem, not adopt it as a new norm

[@thedude7319]

at roughly 08:40 you forgot to ask a question regarding efficientcy here, normally it should be 30-40% recovering your energy back from the molten solt btw

[@ioneldobrin6613]

Inform the Pilots

[@drdewott9154]

Not everything will be recoverable sure, but it should be much cheaper, much more reliable, and much longer lasting than the alternative, like big lithium ion batteries. Its a tradeoff sure but not a half bad one.

[@SkeledroMan]

What about trams or trains on Bornholm? Trams are a highly energy efficient form of local transportation because of the steel on steel running

[@DWPlanetA]

Bornholm actually had three railway lines, but the last one was shut down in 1968 because buses, cars took over. Building a whole new system would probably be more energy and cost intensive than electrifying already existing transport systems!

[@SkeledroMan]

@@DWPlanetA There is no way it is more energy intensive than each family having to buy a new electric car, not to mention the tyre waste that cars create. Even the best trolley buses can't compete with trams on energy efficiency just because of the inherent inefficiency of tyres. The only problem here is political will to fund efficient public transportation instead of being at the mercy of the tyre and automotive lobbies. We need to think about the burden for the long term future, not just upfront costs.

[@SkeledroMan]

The government should just be honest and say they're too scared of touching rich peoples' pocket books to even think about investing in infrastructure that will help the poor (and everyone else for that matter) .

[@tombh74]

I think the islands population is too small for trams. But I am sure they are looking at electrifying all their busses

[@SkeledroMan]

@@tombh74 Trams do not require anything even close to a large population to get good usage metrics. And by sticking with buses, the island loses out economically in the long term due to regular tyre replacement costs and costly road maintenance, and worse, if the buses are battery powered, they lose money due to battery replacements, which also create a lot of waste. Steel rails are much easier to maintain than roads, roads which also develop potholes and damage faster due to heavy vehicles running on them. The best solution for the long term is to start converting the most used bus lines into tram lines.

[@MrFredrikWolf]

And when the wind is not blowing and the sun not shining they import nuclear fossil free energy from Sweden, so does the rest of Denmark but sometimes there is not enough because they got Sweden to close down Barsebäck so they import coal power from Germany instead. Coal is s booming industry there after the Nuclear phase out of course..

[@5414vivek]

Seems like a perfect place for nuclear energy, public transportation and bike infrastructure

[@AnalystPrime]

Public transport and bikes they have already, but nuclear has glaring problems: Firstly if anything were to go wrong there not only would everyone on the island be in danger and need to be evacuated immediately, but within hours the radioactivity would spread to multiple countries and pollute both important fishing areas and shipping routes. When the plans are likely to be vetoed on EU level, why would they even try? Second, assuming the other countries wouldn't care it would take at least years and billions to build AFTER all the years and money spent trying to find suitable location, get people to allow it, and making the plans and safety studies required for the government to even consider the project; that time and money is better spent on building renewables that provide energy now instead of in a decade, and profits in couple of years instead of several decades, if ever. Third, if built the plant would take far more space than just the reactor area for a safety zone where nobody is allowed so it would disrupt the life on the island more than renewables because you can have a road though a solar farm and fields and houses around windmills. The power plant might be safe to live next to in terms of radioactivity when nothing goes wrong, but there is going to be a lot of room between the actual plant and the fence so terrorists can't just buy a house next door and dig a tunnel from the basement. The proposed small modular reactors might be more viable but nobody seems to be offering them at competitive prices at the moment.

[@abcmedia2297]

Hello there, if I move to Denmark, will I be welcome and accepted ?

[@MinusMedley]

Efficiency is always better then capacity. In the long run those who run lean with less to maintain come out on top.

[@janami-dharmam]

Absolutely! Inefficiency== waste and unusable energy

[@jessicaklement656]

It is also the best climbing area of the reagion

[@Yanquetino]

Sure makes me wish my Larsen ancestors had stayed put!

[@mrsporty9669]

Warm weather?🥶

[@olejensen3125]

🥰

[@tengkualiff]

Hopefully this incentivize countries to pursue a net negative carbon goal instead of a net zero.

[@marcinekpomaranski]

It works amazing, managed by Dunes, simple :)))) superb :)))

[@trobinson14kc]

There is nothing like the threat of economic calamity to change peoples behavior. Given the very high start up costs of new power sources, I would bet my life that Copenhagen heavily subsidized this transition. I applaud the communities' embrace of recycling but feel that burning waste of any type very troubling.

[@tomkelly8827]

Burning non recyclable garbage is the way to go so long as emissions are monitored and minimized. It is the best way to mine for metal and keep plastic out of the oceans. We must never stop this. Biogas is even better, you get your fuel and your compost too! Wind and solar are great, although it didn't seem too sunny there. But public transport is key, electrify that. For the ferry, I doubt an alternative could compete with diesel, possibly hydrogen air ships, though I doubt it. Electric would not work, the batteries would cost too much, weigh too much and just not have the power needed for such a task.

[@MtsHumming]

Can't compete with even more advanced Diesel held out of market, by big players. But can always add secondary systems to be used when thermal collection is available or wind kite. Medium ships. Saving on thermal losses can do much for buildings. Back up multi options is key for harsh future storms.

[@petekdemircioglu]

💚💜

[@Pou1gie1]

@3:05 The way to make recycling easier and more efficient is by getting rid of petroleum based plastics and substituting in plant-based biodegradable plastics, not by creating 40 different types of recycling bins! We need to control industry, not the other way around. If you make it illegal and refuse to bring plastic into the country or manufacture plastic products it will eventually be the norm.

[@caseyalanjones]

At first I thought, "What kinds of Danes are these, trying to figure out how to make cars sustainable instead of just riding bikes when they live on a small island?" But a quick search revealed that Bornholm does seem to have plenty of great cycling infrastructure, so maybe it is just the people in this report coming from a more car-centric perspective?

[@Boo-pv4hn]

It used to happen ALOT in the uk. Now it’s banned. Pointlessly adding to the waste

[@Amalgamotion]

I like seeing the transitional nature of the progress here, considering waste as resources is key. I can see a future with companies mining landfills. Knowing the efforts it took to produce, capitalism makes no sense when it fails to incorporate its 'externalities' we need to find better ways of packaging and recycling resources, waste not, want not and all that rot.

[@dylanmartinese7780]

Good idea 🙂🙂🙂👍👍👍👍👍

[@chacmool2581]

What good is it when you are lonely, bored and cold almost year round?

[@themacker894]

I would have liked to see more information about just how much of an impact the decisions being made are affecting the bottom line. This came across as a puff piece without substance as opposed to a informative, motivational video. “This whisky company has been able to reduce their heating expenses by xx%, or recycling has saved xx hectares of land over the last five years which would have been landfill, etc.”

[@HinFoo]

3:20 yea buddy surely noone disliked it or got angry about it

[@shaun4950]

You are surrounded by the sea so tidal wave energy?

[@Onionbaron]

Read Martin Andersen Nexö

[@JeremiahFernandez]

okay but that presenter is adorable

[@ytrew9717]

at last an ecomodernism chanel, (suscribed !) I'm ecologist, but reject most ecologist views because they don't follow science but popular beliefs, like the idealize nature (and thus, human nature amongst other toxic beliefs)

[@cicnos13]

Did you like the part where she said that we need more taxes on fossil fuels?

[@ytrew9717]

@@cicnos13 of course (you prove my point by asking, most ecologist leftist are stuck in this kind of binary thinking). Another example: I'm not Marxist but I support more social welfare, not sure you could get that.

[@shaun4950]

How about offshore wind farms?

[@tombh74]

I think that is what they were taking about. There are huge off shore windmill farms being planned in the area.

[@thomasgade226]

That is shown @7:20

[@DWPlanetA]

Hi Shaun, we have also done a video about this for our channel. You can watch it here in more detail: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6S4c6Rpd7JrqLc ♻🌬

[@devrerffs]

Decouple bornholm from the European grid and see how they manage when there's no wind.

[@chemically_literate]

Makes sense, why not try it on something more substantial like a small nation of Estonia?

[@Sivah_Akash]

I personally don't understand why people don't like the look of windmills. I would love to have one in "my backyard".

[@REDnBLACKnRED]

They are VERY noisy

[@Sivah_Akash]

@@REDnBLACKnRED, hmm. Does it depend on the model/size? I never noticed it. Anyways most of the opposition I noticed is due to their look. 🤷‍♂️

[@collybeans586]

Im not so sure about that. I remember this story from Bornholm you might want to hear before going there. Couple years back in 2020 men covered in Nzi tattoos tortured a young black man to death while having a bond fire in a wooded area on the Island. Burning him with hot Irons for hours on end until he tragically died of his injuries. The courts didnt see any grounds for charging his killers with any hate related murder charges, just regular accidental killing.. The mother of one of the killers then accused the murdered Phillip Johansen of rape AFTER his death which is such an insult first of all and obviously an attempt to put her son(the killer) in a better light in terms of the media and the media ate it up. They presented it like the murder "might've been justified now that we know Phillip Johansen was clearly maybe a rapist who got that he deserved". Look it up! Its probably one of the worst cases I've ever heard of in my life. Tortured to death and then smeared with a rape accusation destroying any sympathy for him post mortem. Im still shook because of this case. I've learned that our media and courts in DK are horrifically brutal and racist, the part they've played in besmirching the memory of this young man. The country owes the family of Philip Johansen millions in reparations and an apology for this unforgivable treatment and public humiliation of their son. I still cant wrap my head around it. UNFORGIVABLE! I've been to Bornholm several time. Dont think I'll be going back.

[@anthonydecastro6938]

and rising seas? how would Bornholm deal with that? people may have to move to higher ground...

[@DWPlanetA]

Sea level rise is going to be an enormous challenge for coastal zones around the world. We have a video on the topic that you might be interested in ☞ kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKGze4CFpcSDaa8 Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments 🙃

[@berganssekk]

Sorting waste and recycling is a brilliant idea - but people are daft, and will not do this properly at home themselves. There will always be people who sees a waste bin for simply a waste bin and throw anything in it, making a mess of the system. I highly doubt adding more categories will help. Unless it is sorted at a facility by professionals, of course.

[@bartenveronique]

In our town the household waste at the waste collection plant is sorted in more than 30 categories. It took people some time to get used to, but after more then 30 years of gradually stepping up the waste management it definitely works. There are professionals to give guidelines, but the people themselves put the waste into the different containers.

[@jensstergard9380]

In Denmark people are not that daft in general. We have waste sorting and recycling in all Denmark today and it works. Mentality is different in different places, many here want a strong community. Compare the politicians we elect.

[@massimonember7126]

New Zealand should learn from them. But it is such a hidebound country that those kind of solutions will probably be considered a century after it will be too late.