This is cool! A little town in Japan, called Kuzumaki generates 161% of its power needs from clean energy.

A marvel, since Japan is a resource-scarce nation, importing 90% of its fuel.

The town, of 8,000 residents, utilizes solar panel arrays, wind farms and methane gas from dairy cow dung. The extra power is sold to neighboring communities.

Kuzumaki’s self-sufficiency is the brainchild of its former mayor, who lobbied for government funding and grants. Now he promotes tourism to Kuzumaki, which hosts more than 400,000 visitors a year.

But, the Kuzumaki’s population is shrinking as younger people move out and older residents die off. Even still, citizens hope their little town serves as a model for the rest of the world.

Imagine New York City or Los Angeles off the grid. It’d take a lot of cow crap!

Via Time Magazine.