“ PEOPLE WHO HAD MOVED TO HVO FUEL HAVE GONE BACK TO DIESEL BECAUSE OF THE COSTS .”
COVER FEATURE examining data from other key industry reports conducted in the past two years . “ It ' s the most comprehensive panfestival industry report on sustainability that ’ s been produced , we aimed to include everybody that ' s working in this space in the project ,” says Better Not Stop director Hannah Cox .
To ensure that there was no outside influence on the report , Cox says that it was decided to forgo funding : “ There was talk about funding , but we wanted to make sure it was completely independent . So , we gave our time and resources for free and all the stakeholders gave their time for free .”
Aside from the sustainability overview attained , Cox says that one of the most shocking initial findings while working on the project was that around 20 % of the 100 festivals involved in the 2022 project were not taking place this year : “ It ’ s a huge amount , we weren ’ t expecting that many of the festivals we had originally researched not to exist in 2024 . They cited a variety of reasons , including production costs having risen 40 % in the past two years . So that ' s been a big cause for concern .”
Costing the earth Cox says that among the most apparent negative impacts the unstable economic climate has had on the progress made by festival operators to reduce their events ’ carbon footprints is shaken confidence – with many of them now feeling less certain about the enduring feasibility of their festivals .
“ Festival operators have become more reluctant to make long-term investments in their energy resources , because why would you invest in solar or wind power , or try to instal grid energy on your land , which will take you 10 years to get your investment back , if you don ' t know whether your festival will be around in 10 years ?”
While the sector has previously seen an increase in the number of festival operators switching to hydrotreated vegetable oil ( HVO ) with the aim of reducing emissions from fuel
Hannah Cox
“ PEOPLE WHO HAD MOVED TO HVO FUEL HAVE GONE BACK TO DIESEL BECAUSE OF THE COSTS .”
consumption , Cox has found that many festival operators have recently changed direction .
“ People who had moved to HVO fuel have gone back to diesel because the costs of the fuel is so different now . For many it ' s not affordable for them to run the event if they stick with HVO fuel ,” she says .
The report highlights research undertaken by Hope Solution and ZAP Concepts that found that the UK events industry uses in excess of 380 million litres of diesel annually , while AGF ' s Low Emission Festivals research supported by Ecotricity found that last year 65 % -85 % of festival power was provided by diesel generators .
“ Cost is critical , and power is one of the main places where you can see that play out ,” says AGF CEO Claire O ’ Neill . “ The use of HVO was on a par with red diesel after the price of red diesel changed but now HVO is at a higher price point than white diesel and therefore some festival operators are moving back to using white diesel .”
Showpower and ZAP Concepts operations head Rob Scully is an environmental scientist who has been involved in festivals for more than 20 years . Among the many projects he has been involved in was helping to run a solar powered area at Glastonbury Festival . He has also deployed large battery systems at major international live events for clients including Frieze , Glastonbury and Kilimanjaro Live .
Scully says that categorising HVO as a sustainable replacement to traditional diesel is a misconception : “ Renewable diesel , biodiesel or HVO is by no means emissions-free . In fact , the amount of direct carbon emissions from burning HVO in compatible diesel generators is almost identical to using ‘ regular ’ diesel .
“ The difference is the carbon impact of obtaining the HVO is in effect offset by the growing of the crop used to make the fuel instead of producing diesel by distilling crude oil . Carbon is still emitted to the atmosphere when HVO is burned in a generator .
“ Also , from our in-depth experience working across multiple events , diesel and HVO generators are rarely run optimally , which results in more fuel burn per unit of energy used .”
Given that it has been calculated that diesel generators usually convert just 35 % of fuel to electricity when running at full capacity , the need to move away from diesel is glaringly apparent , not just to reduce the impact on the planet but also festival organisers ’ bottom line .
AGF recently published its Festival Sustainability Report , which established that of 40 European festivals assessed by the organisation last year some 38 % used HVO Fuel for 100 % of the generators on site but , O ’ Neil agrees that HVO is far from ideal .
She says , “ What we really need to be doing is moving away from burning any type of diesel fuel even if it ' s from surface carbon and not fossil carbon . While some festival operators may , for cost purposes , need to move away from HVO there ' s still a requirement to reduce the amount of accessaa . co . uk XX 21