How the Danes got the public on side with wind farms

 In Denmark wind-farm developers are obliged to auction a minimum of 20pc of the shares in a wind turbine over 25 metres high to neighbours living within 4.5km of the mast.

In addition, a fund is created to enhance local amenities, and a compensation scheme put in place for owners whose properties have fallen in value as a result of the development.

The move came after a 2008 decision to concentrate wind turbines only in specific locations. It resulted in large utility companies seeking to shut down production in some areas and develop larger wind farms.
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The move took place with little or no consultation, and created "strong ill-feeling" towards wind energy. The NESC says development of wind power in Denmark has been characterised by strong public involvement since 1994, and that suitable areas are identified in consultation with local communities before developers are involved.

Funding is in place to carry out analysis by local wind-turbine owner associations – made up of a majority of residents – and local people are given an option to purchase shares in the farm.

One island of 4,000 residents, Samso, has switched to a 100pc renewable energy strategy and invested €41m developing 21 turbines and district heating systems powered by straw. It now exports power, and each turbine is owned by a co-operative, individual, local business or municipality.

Germany, meanwhile, has vowed to phase out nuclear power and rely on renewables as its primary source of energy.

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In addition, a fund is created to enhance local amenities, and a compensation scheme put in place for owners whose properties have fallen in value as a result of the development.
The move came after a 2008 decision to concentrate wind turbines only in specific locations. It resulted in large utility companies seeking to shut down production in some areas and develop larger wind farms.

advertisement

The move took place with little or no consultation, and created "strong ill-feeling" towards wind energy. The NESC says development of wind power in Denmark has been characterised by strong public involvement since 1994, and that suitable areas are identified in consultation with local communities before developers are involved.
Funding is in place to carry out analysis by local wind-turbine owner associations – made up of a majority of residents – and local people are given an option to purchase shares in the farm.
One island of 4,000 residents, Samso, has switched to a 100pc renewable energy strategy and invested €41m developing 21 turbines and district heating systems powered by straw. It now exports power, and each turbine is owned by a co-operative, individual, local business or municipality.
Germany, meanwhile, has vowed to phase out nuclear power and rely on renewables as its primary source of energy.
- See more at: http://www.independent.ie/business/world/how-the-danes-got-the-public-on-side-with-wind-farms-30428676.html#sthash.Br6t5WFm.dpuf

Denmark, wind-farm developers are obliged to auction a minimum of 20pc of the shares in a wind turbine over 25 metres high to neighbours living within 4.5km of the mast. - See more at: http://www.independent.ie/business/world/how-the-danes-got-the-public-on-side-with-wind-farms-30428676.html#sthash.Br6t5WFm.dpuf

Denmark, wind-farm developers are obliged to auction a minimum of 20pc of the shares in a wind turbine over 25 metres high to neighbours living within 4.5km of the mast. - See more at: http://www.independent.ie/business/world/how-the-danes-got-the-public-on-side-with-wind-farms-30428676.html#sthash.Br6t5WFm.dpuf

Denmark, wind-farm developers are obliged to auction a minimum of 20pc of the shares in a wind turbine over 25 metres high to neighbours living within 4.5km of the mast. - See more at: http://www.independent.ie/business/world/how-the-danes-got-the-public-on-side-with-wind-farms-30428676.html#sthash.Br6t5WFm.dpufRead more: How the Danes got the public on side with wind farms - Independent.i

The Cooperative Movement - On The Rise Around The World

A cooperative is a business, not some kind of Communist egalitarian invention.  Co-ops range in size from small store-fronts to large Fortune 500 companies. In many ways, they're like any other business; but in several important ways they're unique and different.

The cooperative movement is on the rise, but Government support is essential for the cooperative movement’s progress. In Italy, for example, the movement is enshrined under Article 45 of the 1947 Italian Constitution and the Basevi Law of 1947, which, “provided co-ops with special tax treatment to encourage their self-capitalization and by creating the concept of ‘indivisible reserves’ for the benefit of all (i.e., future generations of employees and the community).”

Unfortunately still the most difficult barrier of all for the cooperative movement to be accepted is the widely publicized myth that corporate or individual-focused capitalism is the only feasible business method out there.

Today cooperatives are one of the most important and alternate solutions to the abusive and out-of-touch corporate pyramid system that places a few at the top and the majority at the very bottom. 

Fortunately the signs and sounds that people want a different and  more fair economic system are becoming louder every day around the world.

Yes indeed, change is in the air when it comes to a new and fair way of doing business – even in the United States, the powerhouse of traditional capitalism.

One of the many reasons why co-ops are becoming more and more popular is also because today  people spend so much more of their lives, energy and focus as uninvolved workers, rather than as active and participating shareholders.

When you join a co-operative, the main attraction is its democratic participative nature. What this means is that the people  that work in a business or factory, set-up as a cooperative, also own it and are motivated not by profit, but by service-to meet their members’ needs and to provide affordable and high quality goods or services; elect their own board of directors from within the membership, who take the decisions; share the profits and obviously also the losses; pay taxes on income kept within the co-op for investment and reserves. Surplus revenues from the co-op are returned to individual members who pay taxes on that income. 

Cooperatives can also also be highly effective and profitable in providing rural services and needs, such as: electricity, telecommunications, credit and financial services, housing, food, hardware and building supplies. 

It certainly is an idea whose time has come.

EU-Digest