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Residents of Eigg Island in Scotland has taken action to switch from diesel generators to renewable supplies.

Scotland has some of the remotest islands in Europe, and that makes it quite a pleasant surprise that residents of Eigg Island took action to switch from diesel generators to renewable supplies.

And this didn't involve hooking up to large utility providers on the mainland.

It was all about carefully implementing their own solution to become entirely independent. 

A report in EcoWatch shared some details of the power generation.

“The 12-square-mile island, with its small population of 105 residents, gets 'round-the-clock power via a combination of hydroelectric generators, wind turbines, a photovoltaic array and a bank of batteries. On days when renewable resources are low or during maintenance, two 80kW diesel generators provide backup.”

To ensure that residents don't overwhelm the system, there is a fair usage limit at any given time of 5kW.

That has forced people to think more before they turn on appliances, which is something we could all learn from.

And any surplus energy causes automatic heating systems to turn on in shared and public buildings to help keep the community warm throughout the winter.

It might be a small scale solution, but it shows how a grassroots approach should work. 


Chris is one of GreenCitizen’s writers who has been a long-time advocate of individual responsibility when it comes to the environment. He shares GreenCitizen's passion for making the world a better place every day of the year.

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