Greenbelt Festival

Greenbelt Festival Aim for 100% Sustainable Power

Greenbelt is a weekend festival of ‘arts, faith and justice’ that has been running since 1974. In 2017 they had 11,000 people onsite for the 4-day event. Greenbelt has strong commitment to creating an environmentally sustainable festival by making their site more power efficient and looking for renewable sources of power.

After moving site to Boughton House, Northamptonshire, in 2013 they went from a festival site that was partially powered from the grid to one that required 100% onsite power. Initially they used diesel generators festival to power the site but they are now, “working towards a future when the festival is powered entirely from sustainable sources,” says Event Director Mary Corfield.

Helping the Greenbelt team on this journey is production company Judgeday and power supplier Gofer Ltd, who began working with the Greenbelt team in 2016 to help them achieve their sustainability goals around power. At the 2016 event they saved 2,000 litres of fuel and for 2017 they carefully planned their power needs saving a further 16% on fuel usage.

They achieved this through careful planning, understanding that, “data is knowledge,” they worked with their traders, suppliers, concessions and artists to get a clear picture of their expected power needs across the site. This knowledge allowed Gofer to model their event power use and create ‘power zones’, enabling them to reduce the size of generators, and in some cases clustering them together so that smaller generators could be used at times of low demand. They also continued to use LED festoon lighting and switched to LED floodlights to reduce power demand.

During the 2017 festival Greenbelt had two dedicated team members who monitored power use across the site to record power peaks and lows at different times of day and in different locations. This data gave them a practical understanding of energy demand throughout the festival and has allowed them to put energy efficiency plans in place for the next season with real confidence.

For the 2018 festival they are switching two whole areas from diesel to solar powered and two further areas will be powered with hybrid generators. They will replace half of their diesel tower lights with solar and the other half will be swapped for LED flood lights.

To reduce both transport costs and waste they rent an area on the site all year round to store staging, décor and furnishings. They have a policy of recycling and repurposing materials used in previous years and they have switched to generic (rather than year/theme specific) signage, which means they can be used year on year.

To further minimise waste Greenbelt has a re-usable cup scheme in their beer tents; their caterers use 100% compostable packaging work and food waste is collected and redistributed to local food bank charities. Greenbelt won a Greener Festival Awards in 2014, 2016 and 2017 for their environmental initiatives and they are part of the Vision: 2025 community of UK festivals who are working to reduce their environmental impacts. They also work with charity, Energy Revolution, to tackle the CO2 emissions associated with their audience travel by investing in projects that create renewable energy.

They have been recognised in the industry for their commitment to social inclusion and were awarded the Act of Independence award at AIF congress in 2017 for showcasing Muslim art and culture and platforming of Palestinian artists and activists. They hold the Gold Level on the Charter of Best Practice by ‘Attitude is Everything’ for their commitment to improving access for deaf and disabled festivalgoers.

The Greenbelt team believe passionately in the ability of individuals to come together and impact their communities and environment in a positive way; they plan to continue monitoring their environmental performance, innovating to find sustainable solutions, and sharing their experiences with the festival industry.

Cambridge Folk Festival

Relationship with Energy Supplier is Key to Reduction

Cambridge Folk Festival has been running since 1965, it takes place in July and has a capacity of 14,000. The Festival is committed to reducing the environmental impact of the event and have found that a strong relationship with their energy supplier, Pearce Hire, is key to reduction.

Cambridge Folk Festival have worked with Pearce Hire for over 30 years and they have come to understand the Festival’s environmental and ethical values. They work closely with the festival’s Sustainability Coordinator and the Production Manager, to continually improve on energy efficiency, introduce new innovations and to meet the criteria for the A Greener Festival accreditations, which the festival holds.

As Pearce Hire provide both power and lighting, they can invest in more efficient lighting, knowing that their investment will be subsidized by the resulting reduction in generator size and fuel costs. They are also uniquely placed to identify where and when to turn on/off generators and therefore save fuel.

Over the years they have introduced a number of innovations in lighting: adding photocells sensors, manufactured in-house, to switch site lighting on and off at dawn and dusk as required, resulting in huge savings in energy use and cost. They also swapped power-hungry tungsten floodlights for LED and festoon lighting site-wide, and supplied LED fixtures for stage lighting — next year they are looking to invest in some new LED profile moving head fixtures.

Generators used onsite are all Euro Stage Three compliant — one of the most energy efficient, low emission generators you can get and they are arranged in an efficient system of many smaller generators rather than two big sets. The festival is also partially run off mains electricity, supplied through a green tariff, which saves 12-15,000 litres of diesel per event and makes a massive saving on the carbon footprint. Meter readings are taken every three hours during the festival so that the carbon footprint can be accurately calculated and the festival’s major impacts can be identified and improvements made where necessary.

The Festival encourages all staff and vendors to ‘switch off ’ when possible; punters are asked to reuse plastic cups to reduce litter and waste; backstage, water coolers are used instead of plastic bottles. The Festival commission wildlife investigations of the site and go to great lengths to protect local waterways, land and the biodiversity of the area from negative impacts of the event.

Over the last five years Cambridge Folk Festival have reduced their diesel usage by a third. These achievements are a testament to what can be achieved when supplier and festival teams bring mutual commitment and prioritise reducing their environmental impact.

www.cambridgelivetrust.co.uk
www.pearcehire.co.uk

Latitude, Leeds & Reading

Festival Republic: Energy Management at Reading, Leeds and Latitude Festivals.

Festival Republic is a leading UK music events producer with a portfolio of 19 music festivals across Europe, including Download, Latitude, V Festival, Reading, Leeds and Electric Picnic Festivals. More than half a million people attend the festivals they own and co-produce each year.

Festival Republic are committed to understanding and reducing the environmental impact of their festivals but this case study focuses on the challenges and successes of their commitment to reducing CO2 emissions from energy use at Leeds, Reading and Latitude.

Their sustainability policy includes using waste vegetable oil biodiesel to power the festivals’ generators. Between 2010 and 2011 they increased the amount of biodiesel used at Leeds from 18.5% to 24.5%, and at Reading from 12.5% to 18.2% in 2012. This commitment continues despite there being limited biodiesel supply in parts of the country, unpredictable price fluctuations, and a higher cost for sustainable biodiesel in comparison to regular diesel. They now aim for biofuel to make up 15% of the total fuel burned on site, in line with the Julies Bicycle benchmark, and are investigating into fuel efficiency measures to reduce the amount of fuel they use in the first instance.

Festival Republic requires their energy contractor to monitor generators and provide data on the actual fuel consumption after the festival. Based on the data collected, Festival Republic is working to reduce the size and/or number of generators to better match their energy needs and be more efficient about their fuel use. In 2015 Leeds and Latitude Festival were able to reduce the overall size of the generators compared to 2014 and this was achieved even though there was an increase in the festivals infrastructure. 2016 is the fourth year of data they have collected and are working closely with their power suppliers to see if this can be used to make further energy efficiency savings.

In 2015 Festival Republic explored alternative and new energy technologies such as hybrid generators and solar power. They also hired solar powered batteries that can be linked to generators to reduce the generator run-time. After a trial at Latitude, one of the power contractors has invested in a number of these batteries tailored to their technical needs to add to their own fleet, showing that Festival Republic’s dedication is indirectly supporting fuel efficiency in the broader events industry. Combining the two different technologies has been challenging, requiring training for the engineers in the field and dedication from the teams. The initiative is not yet financially viable, but Festival Republic continues to invest to support this kind of knowledge exchange between solar power and generator companies.

Festival Republic works with their contractors to reduce energy demand through specifying more energy efficient technologies; for example, in 2012, Colour Sound Experiment, one of their lighting and visuals rental companies, invested in 1.5 km of LED festoon lighting in response to demand from Reading Festival. The Festival Republic technical production teams work with their audio, video, and sound companies to improve communication around power specs and energy requirements to encourage broader industry conversation about ‘what’s actually needed’ at festivals.

At Latitude in 2015, the audience was engaged around the topic of energy and sustainability through a partnership with De Montfort University’s ‘Face your Elephant’ project. The audience were also physically acquainted with energy awareness through cycle-powered phone charging stations to promote renewable energy in a creative way.

Since 2009, Leeds and Reading festivals have reduced their total carbon emissions significantly, by more than 20% per audience day. In 2015, Latitude and Leeds were awarded a Creative Industry Green rating of four stars and Reading has achieved three stars since 2013. 2016 was the first year in which Download and V Festival were assessed and at the time of writing this case study the results are awaited.

The Green Gathering

Engaging the community in using renewables

The Green Gathering is a festival with an environmental and social justice focus; it has workshops and talks on permaculture, politics, ecology and crafts, as well as art, live music and spoken word performances. It currently has a capacity of 5,000 and takes place in Chepstow, Monmouthshire.

The Green Gathering is proudly run on 100% renewable energy solutions. Throughout the years the organisers have faced and overcome many challenges in producing a festival with no generators. Many of the solutions to problems in this area have come from successfully engaging their community of audience, traders and suppliers in a shared commitment to operating sustainably.

To providing lighting for the festival without using generators they switched to 100% LED lighting throughout, which was a bigger challenge that it sounds due to an initial lack of suppliers of relevant products. Over the years they have engaged suppliers to build up a list of companies who can step in to provide the right products in the right quantities onsite.

Wheelchair and mobility scooter charging using renewable technology was a challenge to overcome as The Green Gathering’s Assisted Access camping area filled up and demand grew. The festival implemented a number of solutions in 2014, ranging from bringing in extra solar power providers to communicating with the audience to inform them to arrive with batteries and spares fully charged, and by stipulating charging times. These measures were so successful that in 2015, The Green Gathering was able to extend its Assisted Access area further with confidence that the audience’s energy needs could be catered for.

“Informing and engaging customers is vital to keeping them on board and positive about running on renewables, especially if being ‘green’ means they can’t have exactly what they want when they want it!”

The Green Gathering requires traders to be 100% renewably powered, ethical and offer a quality product or menu. For traders who meet these criteria but usually run on mains electric, advice and information is on offer to help them go ‘off grid’. In some cases traders can be linked up with the festival’s regular renewable power providers who may, for a small charge (or free meals!) be able to provide the power needed. The festival’s Green Markets coordinator also provides information to cafes about low-energy equipment and menus if they are keen to make the switch to renewables.

“The Green Gathering community has a number of solar and LED experts who can advise traders to help them trade off grid not just for this event but at all events, so that everyone benefits in the longer term. It’s largely about engaging with the traders.”

The people who come together to create and co-ordinate the festival have built up rich resources of knowledge and are keen to share their skills and experience to benefit not only the festival but also the wider world, through empowering people to be environmentally responsible and resilient.

Many thanks to The Green Gathering for providing the information for this case study.

Website: greengathering.org.uk

The Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company

Cafe Mor: A revolutionary off-grid catering concession

Pembrokeshire Beachfood has traded at Freshwater West Beach since 2013, a site that is managed by the National Park and the National Trust. Their Cafe Môr trailer offers a range of high quality food inspired by West Wales produce. In March 2015, they won a Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) support from Pembrokeshire National Park Authority to test out an approach that could revolutionise the catering concessions industry and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

Their remote site had no grid connection and, until the start of the project, electrical power was provided by a generator during the day and a hook up at a local farm by night. The SDF support was used to part fund the installation of solar PV panels and a small wind turbine, along with a solar inverter and a battery bank. The system removed the need for a noisy, carbon-fuelled petrol generator by day, and reduced electrical demand at night (with mains electricity used to top up the batteries if required, rather than being the sole source of power at night).

Instant benefits to the business included a reduction in generator noise, less staff time required for generator operation and maintenance, fewer trading days lost due to generator issues and increased power security as a result of having a battery back up. In the longer term the new system will also considerably reduce operation costs: in 2014, Cafe Môr used around 1000 litres of petrol to fuel the generator, which cost around £1,300. Assuming the system is optimised to minimise mains battery charging to almost zero, benefits in terms of reduced petrol consumption, reduced staff time and reduced loss of trading could be in the region of £2,500 per year: the Cafe Môr system cost just £7,500, so this would give a payback time of around 3 years.

Payback times for systems mounted on vans or trailers used regularly at events could be even better. Initial indications based on a system with three days battery life plus wind or solar recharge, during an event of 7-10 days and assuming an electricity hook-up cost of £450+VAT per event, with 10 events per year, would mean the system would pay for itself in less than 2 years on a system costing up to £9000.

Of course this is not just about money — there is significant potential for the industry as a whole to reduce their impact on the environment, and particularly GHGs. 1000 litres of petrol is equivalent to 2.33 tonnes of GHGs per year. Scaled up across the industry of 10,000 units this amounts to a potential saving of 20,000 tonnes CO2e/yr.

The next stage of the project will monitor the electricity generated by the system to establish exactly how much the system generates and therefore how much mains charging is required, and future phases of the project will look at options for reducing the impact of LPG and vehicle fuel.

Thanks to The Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company and The Nationwide Caterers Association for providing the information for this case study.

Boom Festival

An Innovative Off-grid Festival

Boom is a biannual electronic and world music festival based in Portugal, with an audience capacity of 33,333. Boom Festival began in 1997 as a psychedelic trance music festival, but has now diversified to include a range of DJs, live music and visual arts performances.

Boom is powered by a mix of off-grid photovoltaic panels, diesel generators and a 100kW waste vegetable oil (WVO) generator. Boom has won the Greener Festival Excellence Award four times (2008, 2010, 2012 & 2014), and in 2010 won the YOUROPE Green & Clean Festival of the Year; which led to Boom becoming a participant in the United Nations Music & Environment Initiative.

As well as using renewable and energy efficient technology, Boom Festival is committed to the energy management practices of conducting energy audits and power demand assessments, before and during the festival, and continually auditing and reviewing generator sizes. Boom has a sustainability director who oversees an off-grid project manager and several electrical managers. Efficiencies in energy planning and generation meant they used 40% less energy in 2014 compared to the 2012 edition of the festival. In the 2016 edition, they have almost doubled the lighted areas (using predominantly LEDs), but thanks to efficiency measures their lighting energy consumption will stay the same as 2014.

In 2008 Boom collected and re-used 45,000 litres of WVO, which was used to feed their generator as well as three of their fleet vehicles. Their pioneering Your Oil Is Music project — through which waste oil is collected from local towns — ensures a local supply of renewable energy as well as engagement with the local community.

Boom festival uses 40 kWh of solar energy, which is produced onsite, and is in the process of transitioning from diesel to even more off-grid photovoltaic energy. Their largest photovoltaic array comprises 18 panels, all following the tilt of the sun, and producing 13kw per hour per day. ‘Boom Off-Grid’ is a project that was developed in 2012, in partnership with the local organisation BioEspaço, to increase Boom’s energy efficiency: it includes integrating technologies such as solar irrigation systems, LED lighting and inverters.

The area in which Boom takes place, known as Boomland, is home to around 12 long-term residents and the onsite renewable technology is a permanent feature in the community. The residents spend the 23 months between festivals living entirely on renewables, and creating an energy surplus for the next festival.

100% of all water used at Boom is biologically treated and reused onsite for agricultural irrigation. In 2016, Boom’s permanent onsite gardens will use 25% recycled water and composted organic materials. The festival is commissioning 350 dry-toilet units that are fitted with bio-filters meaning they produce no waste.

The whole of Boomland is under a Holistic Management plan that integrates the presence of the public as a technical positive impact in the local soil biota. Besides the people, domestic animals such as sheep and cattle are used to increase soil fertility and forest regeneration. In 2015, 600 new trees were planted in Boomland and many thousands more in partnership with Ecocentro Ipec in Brazil.

Thanks to Boom Festival for providing the information for this case study.

Secret Garden Party

The Secret to Saving Money

Secret Garden Party has been running since 2004, but in recent years has been increasing efforts to find alternatives to diesel generators for running this 30,000 capacity independent music and arts festival in Huntingdon.

They’re one of the big names signed up to Energy Revolution, the industry-wide collaboration to tackle climate change through the audience’s contributions to renewable energy, supported by Powerful Thinking. As well as this initiative to reduce festival emissions, they are mixing up the energy supply on site to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. In SGP’s recent 10^th year, Firefly installed part of the festival’s power infrastructure, providing cleaner and greener alternative energy in the form of hybrid, solar and some biodiesel generators.

This consisted, specifically, of:

Cygnus Hybrid Power Generators (5 x 24kVA; 6 x 8kVA; 12 X 1.2kVA – with tower light)
30 x 540W solar fold arrays to form a 16kWp solar system.

These solar arrays powered 12 of Firefly’s Cygnus Tower Lights and fed into a number of the Hybrid Power Generators, storing the power to be used after nighfall.

8 Pyxis Power Packs, 12 Km of LED festoon lighting and over 100 LED floods
15 Biodiesel Generators (3 x 165kVA; 2 x 100kVA; 2 x 60kVA and 8 x 20kVA)

The energy from the this kit provided power for the production village including the site office and event control, crew catering facilities and bar, all campsite power including campsite caterers and security, all campsite lighting, lighting across the whole site and a large proportion of the entertainment fields.

A total of 3,826 hours of diesel generator run time was saved by having hybrid systems – a total of around 50% of total run time. This use of hybrid technology reduced diesel dependency by 10,285 litres. On top of that, this new diverse system saved Secret Garden Party £7,713, and reduced overall carbon emissions for the festival by a staggering 24 tonnes.

Hybrid Power in Hyde Park

Firefly Solar Generators Ltd provided technical production services for Hyde Park’s ‘British Summer Time Festival’, on behalf of the promoter AEG Live. The promoter is aiming to source 15% of the events energy from renewable sources by 2017.

The event attracted around 65,000 visitors with acts such as the Rolling Stones and Bon Jovi. Firefly Solar Generators Ltd was asked to provide a completely solar powered setup for the Bandstand stage area, featuring Incognito and Dione Broomfield. The Firefly Cygnus 12kva Generator with a 4kwp solar array of panels provided power for 10 days of programming during the course of the event. Both the lighting and sound were powered from solar generated power – making great use of the sun and soaring temperatures! A full technical production service was delivered from Firefly Solar Generators Ltd, using a D&B Q Series PA system with Digico mixing desk, lights from Miltec, ETC and Easily LED.

By using a combination of biofuel generator and solar storage, they were able to provide continuous and reliable supply, whilst offering carbon and fuel savings.

Firefly also supplied Pictor tower lights to light up key external areas including the meeting point and other important public access and ingress routes. These were also solar powered.

Cygnus HPG benefits to the contractor;

Replaced a 20kVA diesel generator, saving 780 litres of diesel
Saved: 1.81 tonnes of CO2 Emissions
Saved: approx. £819 in diesel fuel (£1.05 per litre)

Pictor solar tower light benefit to customer;

Replaced six diesel powered tower lights saving 312 litres of diesel
Saved: 0.72 tonnes of CO2 Emissions
Saved: £327 in diesel fuel (£1.05 per litre)

Provided a silent lighting source in sensitive areas and a very visual representation of the clients commitment to renewable energy supplies

Croissant Neuf Summer Party

Running a main stage with less power than a domestic hairdyer

Croissant Neuf Summer Party uses solar power instead of diesel generators on site to power the stages and lights. They have never used anything but solar and wind generators. This saves over 1.5 tonnes of CO2 for the festival. The LED lighting system in the Big Top uses less power than an average household TV. The P.A. system in the big top uses less power than a hair dryer but still has a sound output equivalent to a 10KW P.A.

All the caterers and market traders on site use renewable energy. The bar uses hand pumps and all their lighting is low energy LEDs, powered by dedicated solar panels. The commission of an Environmental Audit of activities in 2010 showed that festival goers at Croissant Neuf Summer Party generated on average less than 50% of the CO2 they would otherwise generated if they’d stayed at home and had a normal weekend.

Croissant Neuf is powered 100% by renewable energy due to a conscious decision to buy solar panels and wind turbines instead of diesel generators when the organisers, being keen environmentalists, endeavoured to expand their festival and cafe that originated in 1986.

The original Croissant Neuf consequently gave birth to the Green Roadshow- a travelling environmental education centre with the circus big top at its focal point. All electrical appliances were run entirely on power solar and wind power, including the big top lights and PA and even the hairdryers and laptops in the living vans. This dedication ensured continued pursuit and commitment to renewable technology, conservation, battery powered transport, sustainable living and woodland management. Whilst touring as The Green Roadshow, Croissant Neuf continued to appear as a renewably powered venue at Glastonbury and at other festivals such as the Big Green Gathering.

A massive solar generating unit capable of creating enough power to drive a 10kilowatt P.A system was installed at the turn of the millennium, as music became the main focus of Croissant Neuf. This masterpiece of modern technological engineering was titled The Solar System. Within a few years Croissant Neuf had created the first fully functioning solar rig of its kind that could deliver perfect sound for anything from solo artists through to a 40 person gospel choir. Each year Croissant Neuf Summer Party attempts to improve its sustainability.

Sunrise Festival – Another World

Experimenting with smart grids and new solutions

The festival is powered by 100% renewable energy, but is still seeking to increase energy efficiency and reduce dependency on biofuels. They aim to phase out use of biofuels in the shortest possible timeframe, using instead what they hope will be the UK’s first integrated power system for festivals. They believe in reducing dependency on liquid fuels and encouraging the development of an alternative fuel economy. In 2012, Sunrise Festival used a mix of Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO), solar power, wind power and pedal power. As technology gets better and larger amounts of energy can be produced from sources such as solar and wind the festival plans to make use of them even more. This alternative energy provision is assured by preferentially booking traders and production crew who run their equipment off solar, wind or pedal power. Sunrise Festival also continues to raise money for environmental projects and invest in renewable energy technologies.

For the 2013 festival they planned to bring together high-spec battery technology with more traditional waste vegetable oil generators and a combination of solar and wind power, to create a site-wide power system that is energy efficient and low impact. This is the type of innovative power provision at festivals that shows their true commitment to sustainability and the creation of “Another World”.

As well as improving this system, they carry out thorough monitoring of the power systems onsite to recognize where power may be being wasted. This monitoring also ensures the information needed to improve further in the future was being gathered. Revelations about overspeccing of equipment and inefficiency from individual venues, traders and other users from the 2012 power surveys gave a focus for improvements for the 2013 event.