An island of energy independence

MYSTIC, Conn. — Energy independence remains a hypothetical goal for the United States, but the owner of a tiny island off of Connecticut said he intends to achieve that feat and offers his work as a model.

Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway and numerous medical devices, jokingly refers to his North Dumpling Island as an independent nation and himself as Lord Dumpling. Kamen claims to have his own currency and offers visas to visitors to the island — where he is the only resident — a few miles from Mystic.

But Kamen, who bought the 3-acre island in the 1980s as a retreat, is serious about energy independence.

"The rest of the world will eventually catch up if the Dumplonians can get their message out," Kamen said.

Kamen's energy plan began when the Coast Guard recently notified him that it was cutting off electrical service to the rocky island, part of New York state, because it was switching to solar energy to power a lighthouse.

"That can typically ruin your day," he said.

Then he had an epiphany: Why not make the island energy self-sufficient and a showcase to the world?

Kamen, a prolific inventor who has hundreds of patents, had been working on energy-conservation projects that he has introduced in poor countries.

He also figured his island's timely new status could be used to draw attention to the annual high-school robotics competition he created, FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. Kamen thinks that by getting children excited about science and technology, the robotics competition is creating a large pool of innovators who can eventually solve the world's energy crisis and other challenges.

Kamen granted "visas" to representatives of a select group of corporate sponsors such as Wal-Mart, inviting them to North Dumpling Island to brainstorm about his plans for the island and how it could be used to raise awareness and money for his robotics competition.

Visitors arrived on a wind-swept day, with Kamen's wind turbine spinning a generator and solar panels facing the sky. A replica of Stonehenge is lit with green LED lights that use less electricity than common incandescent light bulbs.

Kamen has been installing LED lights all over the island.

"We have zero tolerance for filaments," he said of incandescent bulbs.

Officials for Philips Color Kinetics, a Massachusetts company doing the project to draw attention to LEDs, said the lights cut Kamen's electrical use at least in half.

The island even has rapid transit: Kamen's Segways. He said the two-wheel vehicles go up to 12 mph, faster than traffic moves in most major cities around the world.

Kamen showed his visitors his basement water-purification system, which he has put to work in Honduras. The system can turn water from any source into clean drinking water free of disease, he said.

He also demonstrated the energy-efficient Stirling engine that he has used in Bangladesh to produce electricity by burning methane generated by cow manure.