T in the Park goes green for another year

T in the Park has been working closely with The CarbonNeutral Company to offset their emissions and become Carbon Neutral for another year.

The festival organisers have been looking at different ways to reduce the events “carbon footprint” to zero and make it CarbonNeutral®. T in the Park’s CO2 emissions, which are generated by all the events energy use, waste, diesel and even the artist, crew and fans travel, will be offset through projects which form a mix of sustainable forest, solar and technology initiatives across the world.

The emissions will predominantly be offset through the German Methane Capture Project in Germany, and Myndd-Y-Garnedd in Wales.

The German Methane Capture Project is concerned with capturing methane from the Rhine and Rhur valleys in Germany, which have a history of coal mining. Depsite the closure of many of these mines, methane, which is 21 times more environmentally damaging than carbon dioxide, continues to escape. With no financial incentive to stop this happening, finance from sources like the kind provided by T in the Park is essential.

The project will capture the methane that would otherwise escape from the these mines and use it to generate electricity and heat. Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units feed electricity to the grid and heat to a local district heating system. By burning the methane, its climate impact is reduced by 21 times and reduces dependence on fossil fuels normally used for energy generation.

Myndd-Y-Garnedd in Snowdonia, Wales has been designed to grow from a combination of natural regeneration and new planting. The project works to reforest areas of natural woodland with local indigenous species that not only absorb CO2 emissions as they grow but also encourage and protect biodiversity in these locations. The main species which will be planted are birch, sessile oak, rowan, willow, hazel and hawthorn - all grown from locally-sourced seed. The birch acts as a 'pioneer' species, growing quickly and improving the soil while the slower-growing other species catch up. To prepare the site, a number of small non-indigenous conifers have been felled and the deadwood left to create a deadwood habitat. Finally, the wet heaths and rock outcrops at the site have been left unplanted as areas of open space, to create a really diverse woodland with lots of different wildlife habitats.

All of the CO2 emissions created at the event, can be attributed directly to three central elements surrounding the infrastructure of the festival. The crowd and artists’ methods of travel to the festival accounts for 73% of the CO2 emissions. A further 20% can be attributed to the set up of the festival including the crew. Finally, 7% of the CO2 emissions are attributed to the waste that is unrecycled i.e. landfill emissions. However, last year T in the Park recycled 40% of event produced material, and are hoping to increase that figure for 2007.

Geoff Ellis, Festival Director at DF Concerts, said "It is really important for T in the Park to take these responsible steps to ensure that not only this generation get to enjoy the festival and its beautiful surroundings but that future generations do too. Hopefully, the T in the Park audience will appreciate what we are doing and they will work with us to ensure that 2007 is an even greener T."

Jonathan Shopley, CEO of The CarbonNeutral Company comments: “With climate change now widely accepted as the most serious problem the world faces, communicating the positive actions we can all take to reduce our impacts is going to be crucial in tackling this global threat. The actions and leadership of an organization such as T in the Park in reducing CO2 emissions sets an excellent environmental example that will hopefully inspire others in this business sector as well as the tens of thousands of music fans attending the event to take positive action to deal with their own climate change impacts.”

T in the Park has acts including Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, Razorlight, Snow Patrol, Scissor Sisters, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, Kings of Leon, The Kooks, My Chemical Romance, Kasabian, Queens of the Stone Age, and loads more - for all the acts so far announced click here. Note that the Friday entertainment will only be available to those with weekend with camping tickets.

T in the Park strongly advises fans not to buy tickets from any unofficial sources or website auctions, as not only will they have to pay over the odds but there is a high chance that the ticket will not exist or will be a fake.

Latest Updates