Tvindkraft - a political statement

Tvindkraft - the big windmill in Tvind

The wings of the windmill in Tvind have been turning round and round since 1978 and it is still a unique manifestation of what people can do, if they decide it, and if they use their collective forces, their political will and imagination, and their innovative and organizational skills to overcome everything. It is also a statement of how it is possible to take action against pollution and waste of energy, and how it is possible, and within reach, to create a more sustainable way of producing and using energy.
As stated in the exhibition in the cone of the mill:

In Tvind in Jutland, Denmark, teachers and students build their own power station for their own schools – the world´s largest windmill, with their own money. They build together, in the sake of natural energy, for the sake of human society, against slavery, monopolization and nuclear power.

Nuclear power is today not an option in Demark, partly due to public resistance, and Tvindkraft was a very strong argument, and in the front, in the reasoning for this political decision.
The windmill was the biggest in the world, and quite a sensation, at the time it was built. Today the companies plan and build windmills several times bigger, and gradually the use of wind power plays a bigger and bigger role in the overall energy supply.  
Millions of kwh have been produced by the windmill since its start, and thousands of tons of co2 emission have been avoided together with other harmful gasses and particles.
All this are very valuable achievements, and we could say thank you very much and take the windmill out of production. It has done its part, is old now and maybe old fashioned compared to the present technology in use.

We still say thank you very much to the mill – and continue keeping it running and producing by taking good care of it. It pays back in kwh and money to the schools at the place and, also for the public, it is a kind of symbol of the Tvind schools. Even more important is maybe its value as a manifest of human will and innovation, making the impossible to a reality. That the fight against nuclear power, pollution, co2 emissions, that the fight for a better and cleaner environment is for everyone to join and to contribute, and that it can be done in a way that matters.

This is also part of the background for the award the European solar price 2009, given to Tvindkraft and the Tvind schools by the organization EUROSOLAR in the category of education. This is understood in the way that Tvindkraft has had significant impact on the debate and understanding of renewable energy and its importance on the environment.

Read more through the link to Tvindkraft, the windmill, on the homepage : www.tvindkraft.dk