Consigned to Oblivion - Wind Power for the World: The Rise of Modern Wind Energy - page 356

In Denmark during the 10 year period between 1974 and
1984 a great number of enterprises and inventors emerged, who
worked on many diferent versions and concepts of windmills. This
bottom up process is part of the one of the flourishing periods
of innovation and dynamics that led to the foundations for a
new Danish industrial sector, which soon acquired importance
on the international scale. While other countries also had their
inventors and pioneers with designs and constructions that did not
become commercial, in Denmark several dozens had the dream to
develop the technologically ultimate solution. Only some of them are
mentioned in this chapter.

16.2 Home-Made Inventions

“I planted the trees, I cut them down, and now I have carved the
wood into blades for my windmill,” says from

Jelstrup, Thy, in Per Mannstaedt's film, “Dansk Energi” (“Danish
Energy”). It is a one hour documentation of the bottom-up eforts
by the people to make the vision of a Denmark without nuclear
power come true. The film was made in 1977, following another
film, “Flere Atomkraftværker” (“More Nuclear Power Plants”) in
which Per Mannstaedt had shown us what is going on behind the
metres of thick walls in a nuclear power plant, something that
was not at all reassuring.
The contrast between the world of atomic energy and the
inauguration of Jacob Overgaard's windmill was overwhelming.
When the neighbours, most of them over 60, saw the green blades
on the red and white tower do their first turn, they proceeded to
the farm house where the tables in the best parlour had been
laid with cofee, cakes and aquavit. Jacob and his windmill were
celebrated, and debates on energy policies took place. My son who
was four at the time also appeared in the film along with the group
of men at their afternoon cofee. The people had taken things in
their own hands. Jacob had delivered a manifest statement that we
could manage without nuclear power.
During the process of making the film,

Jacob Overgaard

had
met so many ordinary people that knew and demonstrated the
craft to build a well-functioning windmill for supply of their own
energy needs and even sale of power, that he got captivated by the
idea of building his own windmill in Northern Zealand. I advised

Per Mannstaedt