Feature for Zetland
A detatched coal grabber lies symbolically beneath a huge yellow coal crane that will retire as part of the green tran- sition. Two gigantic, unemployed Mærsk oil rigs rest as monuments over a bygone fossil success that was caught up by the present. Not far away wind turbine towers and generators stand as a testament to the new and booming industry in the harbour city, that makes both carpenters and taxi drivers want to switch careers. Frank Østergaard worked in coal, then twenty years on the oil fields of the northern sea and now he assembles offshore wind tur- bines. The green transition is very concrete at Esbjerg Har- bour. Many oil and coal cities around the world fear eco- nomic decay, but Esbjerg has been able to follow the wind of change. Esbjergs secret is that the city has tried it before.
Photo editor and art direction: Mikkel Bøgild Jacobsen
Words: Thomas Hebsgaard
