LED vs traditional stage lighting: Reducing emissions and fuel by 70%

How significant is the impact of changing traditional stage lighting for LEDs on fuel and equipment needed?

The impact of LED stage lighting on efficiency and fuel use can be huge – in the example below a saving of 70% was made. There are also other ways to reduce main stage fuel use, for example using smaller gensets or hybrid units to manage low loads overnight.

In this example scenario PAR lights, with a conventional lamp of 650 W, are changed for an LED light of 36 W saving 614 W per light.

Let’s say that during a 10hr show the total time the PAR light is actually used is approx. 2hr. If in a stage 50 PARs are used, the energy savings will be 614 x 50 x 2 = 61,4 kWh. As a result of the change, the total power demand of the stage will be reduced by 30.7 kW.

If in this example the original maximum power demand of the total stage was 80 kW, a generator of minimum 100 kVA would have had to be used. The average load on the generator would be approx. 20 kW. This load on a 100-kVA diesel generator leads to an efficiency of approx. 18%. Per show day, the fuel consumption of a generator in this situation will be approx. 110 litre diesel.

After replacing the conventional lamps with LED lights, the maximum power demand of the total stage will be 50 kW. A generator of minimum 60 kVA will be needed. The average load on this generator then will be approx. 14 kW. This load on a 60-kVA diesel generator leads to an efficiency of approx. 23%. Per show day, the fuel consumption of this generator in this situation will be approx. 32 litres diesel.

So changing the conventional 650 W PAR lights into 36 W LED PAR lights would save 70% of fuel consumption and therefore 70% of the stage’s CO₂ emissions.

This huge effect is not only because of lower power consumption by the lights itself, but also because of a reduction of the peak demand. Because a smaller generator can then be used, the average load on this generator is relatively higher and thus the efficiency of the generator is also higher. It is worth noting that designing out large demand peaks in power systems is desirable, enabling smaller generators and fuel savings, but in the case of stages, it is acknowledged that there will be peaks due to the quality of the show.

Towersey Festival

Towersey Festival worked with their power supplier Flying Hire to cut fuel use by almost a quarter across the site in 2018.

Flying Hire have provided power for Towersey for the last 4 years, each year working for greater efficiency, and pushing for the reduction of diesel. In 2018, a changed site plan gave the Flying Hire team the opportunity to work closely with Towersey to redesign their power plan, and achieve the significant fuel use reduction.

The new system involved building a miniature sub-station of synchronized generators and distributing all power from there; all the generators were synched on a load share demand basis for optimum running efficiency.

Planning was key to ensuring the transition would run smoothly; the team calculated the power needed around the main arena, the power being drawn, the load on cables and how this would affect the voltage. They reduced the number of generators from 14 the previous year to 8, and added an additional 3.2km of cabling in order to distribute the power. During the event fuel management for all the gen-sets was switched on and generators were monitored for optimum efficiency.

“For festivals that want to push on their green footprint, we would say work closely with your power provider and see how your setup can be made more efficient.” George Nearn, Flying Hire Ltd

Check out Powerful Thinking’s Five Tips for Smarter Power Contracts

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.

Into the Great Wide Open

Into the Great Wide Open (ITGWO) is a Dutch Festival with an audience of 7,000, which takes place on the Island of Vlieland on the northwest coast of the Netherlands. In 2016, they switched from diesel to 2^nd generation biofuels (fuel derived solely from recycled organic waste matter, distributed and sold by the company GoodFuels) to power the generators used at the festival, reducing the amount of CO2 produced in the onsite energy production of the festival by 85%.

The organisers of ITGWO are committed not only to making their festival sustainable, but to exploring how festivals can be used as a catalyst for bigger societal changes. In order to do this they set up a foundation, in 2013, called Lab Vlieland through which they pioneer and develop sustainability projects in the temporary world of their and other festivals, then find ways to implement their successes on a wider basis; first as a permanent part of island life in Vlieland, then to the mainland with the ultimate goal of speeding up global transition to a sustainable society.

Their switch from diesel to biofuel was taken as an intermediary step on their journey to sustainability. Biofuel use has many implications, which must be considered, and they realise that it is not a perfect solution. Ideally they would like to establish a grid connection and power the festival via the mains on a green energy tariff. However, for now this is not a viable option; festivals have very high peaks of energy demand necessitating large connections — these are expensive to install and run partly due to the nature of Dutch energy law, which means Energy Providers have inflexible charging structures that do not account for temporary connections with fluctuating demand.

Provenance is also an issue that means biofuel is not a long-term solution; despite the integrity of their sourcing — using fuel which comes only from organic waste streams — Lab Vlieland is aware that the total organic waste matter volume is not high enough to meet future demands for the biofuel it is used to produce. Biofuel is also more expensive and there are additional costs for transport. Despite these drawbacks and considerations the use of biofuels is a great step forward in terms of reducing fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions from the event.

Lab Vlieland’s first hurdle in implementing their switch was to find a biofuel source that is reliable and ethical and that their generator supplier, F&L, was willing to use in their machines. ITGWO/Lab Vlieland have a good relationship with F&L, who they have worked with since 2009 over 8 editions of the festival. F&L are a small progressive firm, meaning lines of communication are short and creative solutions are relatively easy to implement and they agreed to trial the switch provided the biofuels quality was high enough. In the end a biofuel (B100) from ‘Good Fuels’ was chosen for it’s quality, reliability and ethical means of production.

The use of biofuels in diesel generators is not completely straightforward, normally generators are hired partially full from the previous event and are returned in the same way, so the event only pays for the diesel they have used, and organisers don’t have to worry about predicting fuel use accurately — they can take extra fuel and return the excess, only paying for what they use. When using biofuel the generators needed to be completely drained of fossil diesel before they could be filled to ensure pure biofuel use (mixing is technically not a problem, except that you are still burning a mix of fossil and non-fossil fuels) – and they needed to be returned empty.

This not only involved extra logistics but also meant that Lab Vlieland had to accurately predict how much biofuel the festival would need, as any left over would have to be stored or would be wasted. They partially solved this problem by agreeing to sell any remainder to another festival looking to move to biofuel but in the end they were so accurate in their estimates that this measure wasn’t necessary.

The next issue that they came up against was transportation: Land infrastructure is entirely fossil fuel orientated; diesel can be acquired from the nearest pump to the festival site and transported in the containers that it is then stored in for the duration of the festival. The biofuel had to be transported from much further away and then transferred into separate storage containers incurring extra costs and planning.

The saving of 85% of CO2 emissions from fuel use in onsite energy production in 2016 compared to 2015 would have been higher but in 2015 ITGWO used significantly less diesel than average due to bad weather and resulting stage closure. They also used 500 litres of fossil diesel onsite because the rental agency would not agree to use biofuel in their onsite vehicles (forklifts etc.).

ITGWO used 8,000 litres of biofuel in 2016, at 40 cents more per litre than diesel, plus €800 for transport logistics resulting in a €4,000 spend compared to diesel— a cost which will hopefully be mitigated in the future as more festivals follow suit and infrastructures, generator suppliers and biofuel providers adapt to suit the growing market.

For ITGWO the environmental benefits outweighed the financial implications of the switch but they continue to search for more efficient means to power their festival including ongoing negotiations with the government regarding reforms to Dutch energy laws to make it cost effective for temporary events to run from the grid.

De Parade Amsterdam

De Parade saves 27% of diesel use in one year

Dutch festival De Parade Amsterdam worked with energy consultant, Watt Now to save 15,300 litres (27%) of diesel in 2016 compared to the previous year, by monitoring and reducing fuel use.

De Parade Amsterdam is a theatre festival that takes place in the Martin Luther King Park. It runs for 16 days and has an audience of approximately 100,000. Other editions of De Parade take place in Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague.

Watt Now’s first step in working with the festival was to conduct a complete inventory during the 2015 edition to find out exactly what energy demands were being made and where, including lighting, catering, acts and venues, and how much diesel was being used by generators to meet these demands. As a theatre Festival De Parade has complex lighting demands and with each act energy use fluctuates so these needs have to be met reliably to ensure the performances run smoothly.

With these figures established Watt Now estimated the energy for the 2016 edition and, in collaboration with generator supplier Bredenoord, redesigned the generator arrangement to be more efficient; instead of the 7 big sets used in 2015 they used 14 smaller generators, arranged in groups of three, that switched on and off based on the load. As smaller generators are less expensive to hire they used the cost savings to hire smart distribution boxes to connect the generators (installed power supply went from 4000 kVA in 2015 to 2450 kVA in 2016).

As a result of these measures De Parade Amsterdam saved 15,300 litres of diesel (27%) in 2016 compared to 2015. Watt Now will continue to work with De Parade for the 2017 edition and they predict that a further 7% saving can be achieved. To further improve accuracy of reporting and maximum generator efficiency in 2017, Watt Now plan to conduct real-time monitoring of the generator settings and performance throughout the festival.

De Parade in Utrecht has led the way in fuel use savings by securing a government grant to fund a connection to the grid to completely power the festival. This is an avenue that Watt Now are keen to explore for De Parade in Amsterdam, and for other festivals across the city, and there is a growing movement for local governments to fund grid connections for outdoor events — with festivals such as De Parade now able to provide accurate energy data it is possible to predict usage and cost savings, enabling the local government to size grid connections accurately and gauge the financial viability of such projects.

www.deparade.nl/ams/
www.watt-now.nl
www.bredenoord.com/en/

Mysteryland

Mysteryland: Significant energy savings in first year as a weekend festival

Mysteryland is the longest running electronic music festival in the world; 2016 sees the 23^th edition of the event. The festival has a capacity of 60,000 visitors per day. Mysteryland was founded by ID&T who have an international portfolio of world-renowned events including Sensation, Amsterdam Open Air, Welcome to the Future, and Amsterdam Music Festival. Up until 2014, Mysteryland was a one-day event, but in 2015 ID&T had the opportunity to expand the festival to a full weekender with camping.

As well as changing Mysteryland’s format, ID&T challenged itself in increasing the length and scope of the festival while reducing its environmental impact and maintaining its profitability through energy savings and efficiency. They set out to run the new campsite on 100% biodiesel, and decreased both diesel and power equipment use across the entire site.

ID&T takes the sustainability of its shows seriously: they have been awarded the highest rating for sustainability by A Greener Festival for their Welcome to the Future Festival and have been using the Julie’s Bicycle IG creative green tools to measure and record their impacts for the last three years across their portfolio. ID&T also works with the Amsterdam Dance Event to organize ADE Green: an international conference focused on sustainability and social change.

ID&T‘s commitment to creating greener events meant that they wanted to improve sustainability further for Mysteryland’s new weekend format, so they worked with ZAP Concepts, a sustainable events consultancy, to create and roll out a ‘Smart Power Plan’ to achieve their goals for energy efficiency and budget.

ZAP concepts worked closely with ID&T management, crew, and suppliers to create the Power Plan. The preparation phase was vital, it involved dividing the site into ‘Power Zones’ and calculating the power that would be needed in each zone by meticulously collecting exact energy requirement data from artists, production teams, and concessions located there — this included timings so that that the maximum power could be achieved at any given moment.

Mysteryland is a complicated site with many areas spread out as small islands, which meant it wasn’t straightforward when ensuring that each area had sufficient power. Using the power inventory from the preparation phase, ZAP Concepts planned the most efficient generator configuration for each zone and created a detailed plan for each generator’s run time with a start/stop time allocated for each generator per day for onsite crew to follow. During the construction phase of the plan, the crew were briefed on start/stop times and generators were thoroughly tested to ensure reliability.

During the show, it was proved to be vital to have a technical crew onsite to ensure that the generators were running efficiently and to problem-solve any issues. Fuel deliveries were also checked to verify that Mysteryland was receiving the amount agreed — as fuel quantities can often be less or more which skews measurements of fuel consumption. As part of the ‘Load Out’ phase of the Power Plan, steps were taken to ensure that all generators were turned off promptly after the show, as it is common for crew to forget to do this in their rush to finish the shift.

The Power Plan was a success in achieving ID&T’s aims: From 2014 to 2015 they reduced diesel consumption by 30% per visitor day (pvd) — from 0.56 liters to 0.38 liters, and total diesel use was reduced by 25%. Power needed for the festival was reduced by an impressive 40% from 2014 to 2015, from 0.15kWh (pvd) in 2014 to 0.08 kWh in 2015. The campsite was entirely powered on biodiesel and biodiesel use was increased by 15% across the entire site.

For the 2016 Mysteryland festival, ID&T aims to further increase efficiencies, reduce energy and diesel use, and increase biodiesel use. For the 2015 festival, both ID&T and ZAP Concepts agreed that using FAME biodiesel across the site was too risky in terms of reliability. They had experienced technical issues with FAME biodiesel and there were doubts about the sustainability of the provenance of some sources. They are now searching for biodiesel from reliable sources and are committed to checking the provenance with Greenpeace to ensure it is the best sustainable alternative for fossil fuel.

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.

Bestival

Reducing fossil fuel dependency through efficiencies and biodiesel use

Bestival is one of the last major UK festivals of the summer calendar, attracting over 50,000 audience members to the Isle of Wight in recent years for this creative indie and dance music festival.

From the outset of the festival in 2004, organisers Rob and Josie de Bank were committed to being environmentally responsible and endeavouring to annually increase the use of renewables and WVO generators for energy throughout the festival site.

Since 2013, Bestival has made great progress in reducing fossil fuel dependency and they work closely with their energy suppliers to service their somewhat awkward shaped site with maximum efficiency.

The length of the festival site makes the power supply contract a complex issue and as it is considered, “too big for a single contractor,” they use different suppliers for the arena, the showspace and the campsite.

In 2013 and 2014, Midas Productions UK provided power the campsites and at the Tomorrow’s World zone — an area where the Bestival wanted to focus on promoting a ‘fun, sustainable, inspirational future’. Midas were able to monitor and measure power use over the first year and make changes to improve energy efficiency performance in the following year.

Due to the power efficiencies measures taken and the reduction in diesel generators used on campsites, from 2013 to 2014 overall red diesel use was reduced and biodiesel use significantly increased. In 2013, red diesel measured in at 108,000 litres, which dropped to 97,500 litres in 2014. Biodiesel use increased from 16,500 litres in 2013, to 21,239 litres in 2014.

Bestival have found that the biggest users of fuel are the production sets for the stages and that in order to create the greatest efficiencies in powering them they need to have accurate specifications in order to plan the best generator configurations and timings. This requires committing suppliers to accurate requirements, although their experience is that suppliers are not always keen to “tighten up on spec,” due to the fear of power failure to the stage at times of peak power requirement, possibly because while connection sizes are easier to pin down actual loading is harder to ascertain.

Bestival are learning from such experiences and continue to work closely with their suppliers to measure and record power and diesel use as a key tool in creating future reductions. There focus is on efficient site design and they engage with their audience in green initiatives wherever possible.

Thanks to Bestival and Midas UK for the information in this case study.