Søren Hermansen knows about what it takes to transition to renewable energy.

Hermansen is the director of the Samsø Energy Academy in Samsø, Denmark — a small island that has become a model for renewable energy and sustainability.

He was on P.E.I. on the weekend to speak at the Sustainable Future conference hosted by UPEI.

He said P.E.I. could learn from his own island's transition to renewable energy.

"We didn't try to make kind of a standalone fairy-tale island," Hermansen said in an interview with CBC News: Compass. "We wanted to do it with the consequences of modern technology … in a local environment."

Samsø's transition began in 1997 following the adoption of the Kyoto protocol.

With Denmark focused on shifting away from a reliance on oil, the island won a government competition to become a model renewable energy community.

Now all of its electricity comes from wind and biomass.

Hermansen said the shift took place over a number of years. Within 10 years, he said, the island was producing more electricity than it consumed.

"What we did was we tried to see what kind of consumption patterns do we have, and what technology will cover these consumption patterns. So we need space heating, we need electricity, we need energy for transportation."

Hermansen explained that in Samsø, people still drive cars and live with modern conveniences.

"We are 'normal' society, so to speak."

Possible on P.E.I.

Hermansen said he believes P.E.I. could follow a similar pattern.

"It is about looking at the numbers," he said. "And find out how much do you actually spend on importing material resources, fuel, to run this island. And you probably import quite a lot from outside.

"What if you turned the whole production and the whole circular economy over to an island perspective and make everything your own business."

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