Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
“That team you see—it was actually founded in January of
1974. This was just when the oil crisis was at its highest. It was
winter and there was a real concern in this country on how we
could get through the winter because people were relying on
heating their houses by using oil. They had all thrown out
their old stoves, and we lived in modern times where oil was
available, and it was a complete shock that this supply of oil was
suddenly interrupted. And when you live in a cold climate here
where we have these cold winters, we really feared to freeze (…)
The Minister of Trade appeared Saturday evenings in primetime
and reported on the supplies of oil and how much was in storage
(…) he would tell people to go to the forest and collect some wood,
and he would say you should close some of your rooms (…) and only
use one room to save energy.” (Maegaard, 2010)
The team that formed in 1974 referred to above was “NIVE”,
the North-Western Jutland Institute for Renewable Energy.
It
consisted of a few engineers, blacksmiths, and teachers from a
local technical school. The focus of NIVE was not exclusive to wind
energy by any means and in fact, their initial projects focused
on other technologies with particular emphasis on biogas and a
few projects in solar energy. Their aim was “optimal use of local
human and technological resources” (Maegaard, 2010). The group
had received a grant of DKK 50 000 from UNESCO for which it
was trying to establish a use in a meeting held at a local
Ecumenical College on 12 January 1974. Despite the energy crisis,
the college leadership was hoping to focus on spiritual deve-
lopment, however, Maegaard and others were more concerned
about the need to search for immediate, pragmatic, and concrete
solutions to address the crisis. There was a farmer, Poul Overgaart,
at the meeting, who wanted support in developing a biogas
plant and he had gone to the technical university and consulted
with other experts in search for information. He could not find
anyone to provide him with the needed practical information for
designing and constructing such a facility, and he recommended
the group to use part of the grant to bring experts to Denmark
who might be able to provide the needed information. The outcome
was that an organisation was needed that could coordinate the
access and development of practical information on alternative
10
10
Various interviews with Preben Maegaard informed the history of the
formation of NIVE provided in this section.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search