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Until recently, the idea of powering a local economy with 100 percent renewable energy seemed unrealistic. That has changed: there’s a small town energy revolution underway.

Take Juehnde, a village in the German state of Lower Saxony: it reached total self-supply by 2006 with biogas and wood chip heating. It now attracts visitors from around the world (e.g. from Thailand). Eric Burch, of Indiana’s Office of Energy and Defense, visited and summarized what he saw like this:

 With nearly 750 residents, Juehnde is the first village in Germany to produce its complete heat and electricity supply from bioenergy … The German Bioenergy Village project planning began in 1998, and the village officially reached self-sufficiency in energy production in June 2006. Juehnde’s plant provides heat and water to the village and also sells electric energy onto the electricity grid. It took the German community nearly 8 years to bring its project to reality.

Juehnde is not alone. What we see in Germany is a small town energy revolution. Today more than 75 villages and municipalities are striving to meet their energy needs with 100 percent renewable energies. Large associations like the German Association of Towns and Municipalities and the Farm Federation support this development. An annual 100 Percent Congress, coming up at the end of September, provides a platform for exchange of ideas. This year, more than 700 representatives from rural areas will get together to discuss ways forward to 100 percent renewable communities.