Concerns about energy security may run high elsewhere in Europe, but on the windswept Danish island of Samso the inhabitants have achieved a decade-long target of self-sufficiency in renewable power.

It's a challenge their government set the island in 1997 and which has been largely funded through local taxes and individual investments, in one of Europe's wealthier countries - Denmark's GDP per capita was more than €24,000 in 2006.

Now the islanders have shown that where there's a wind, there's a way - and in the process mounted a global showcase for one of the prize export industries in Denmark, which is home to the world's largest wind-turbine maker, Vestas.

"I often use Samso as an ambitious example of how to cope with the big challenges that our own country faces in the race to become independent of fossil fuels," said Randy Udall, a US energy sustainability activist.

Based in Colorado, Mr Udall imports ideas from all over the world on how to make communities self-sufficient in energy.

On Samso, which is home to just 4,000 people, wind turbines tower over green fields and rise from the choppy waters of the North Sea; rye, wheat and straw are used to heat the one-storey buildings and solar panels have sprouted on roof tiles.

"I think Samso has set an agenda for the climate issue and, alongside other projects, it has shown that this is possible," said Soren Hermansen, director of the Samso Energy Academy and one of the project's main drivers.

Without any construction subsidies, the islanders have invested €57 million - an average of more than €13,000 per citizen.

"We invested €57 million - a big number for 4,000 people - but in reality it's not a whole lot," said islander Jorgen Tranberg, who describes himself as a milk producer who "owns a couple of turbines".

In Denmark's geographical centre, Samso used to be best known for its early-season potatoes. Now, 11 onshore wind turbines cover all local electricity demands and 70 per cent of the island's homes are heated using biofuels or solar power.

While some homes have opted to stay with oil furnaces for heating and cars are still common, the island has become carbon neutral by erecting 10 offshore wind turbines - in addition to the 11 on land - to offset the automobiles' carbon emissions and those from the 30 per cent of homes still heated by oil.

"We even produce far more electricity than we need," said Mr Hermansen. The surplus is sold to the mainland.

To promote wind-power, the Danish government subsidises wind energy production to the tune of about 20 to 50 per cent of the final cost of power to consumers.

The islanders' efforts dovetail with EU policy but have gone much further than official targets.

The EU has committed to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by a fifth by 2020 from 1990 levels, and to get one-fifth of all energy demand from renewable sources such as wind, solar and biomass.

Some islanders say the renewable project has been helped by developing as a grassroots venture rather than having targets and regulations imposed by a bureaucracy.

"First of all you need determination and can-do spirit, and then you need an economic foundation to make it possible," said Mr Tranberg in the cockpit of his wind turbine.

Many islanders own shares in the onshore wind turbines, an investment that they originally hoped would pay back after eight to 10 years.

A stronger-than-expected wind - blowing 10 to 15 per cent more force than expected into the blades - cut the payback time and now Samso Energy Academy says a share in a wind turbine generates about €67 per year in income.

"We held a lot of meetings, but we managed to do it because we hired good experts and trusted our own instinct," said Mr Tranberg, who bought one early turbine himself and then a second offshore one with a partner.