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.

Midas Productions

Waste Vegetable Oil is the Golden Touch for Bestival

Founded at the turn of the millennium, Midas Productions has been the power broker for biodiesel, running its generators exclusively on locally sourced waste vegetable oil.

Bestival is a prime example of the company’s capacity to turn a large-scale event on to WVO. Organisers Rob and Josie de Bank have been pushing a green agenda since the festival started in 2004 and Midas moved beyond the campsites to the Tomorrow’s World arena last summer, its second year at the festival, where the focus, aptly, is on a ‘fun, sustainable, inspirational future’.

Crucially, Midas’ continued investment in kit means it can accommodate its ever-busier contract diary, servicing events either side of Bestival and still hitting the tight deadline on the Isle of Wight, by way of example. “We are scrupulous in our priorities as a business, always putting money into generators, mains and distro, so we can continue to deliver in terms of time and quality,” Midas Director, Dave Noble, said.

Bestival Site Manager, Christina Von Bonin, is quick to praise the Midas touch. “It has dispelled the rumours that ‘bio-diesel doesn’t work’ or ‘the generators clog up’ and while the fuel is a bit more expensive than red diesel, we would certainly like to increase the amount we use, in small steps year-on-year,” she said. “It’s easy to work with Midas too, because it’s team is flexible, easy to get on with and straight talking.”

The complexity of the Bestival site means the contract is split between two suppliers, with Midas currently responsible for some 30per cent of the site. But the balance of power is shifting.

Øya

Large-scale festival powered by hydroelectricity from the grid

Øya is a music festival in Norway that has been running since 1999. For the last 2 years it has taken place in Tøyenparken, a green space in the city centre of Oslo and attracts approximately 70,000 audience members over four days.

Øya’s aims to be a pioneer of green events: leading by example and inspiring fellow promoters, businesses and audience members. Øya embeds sustainable and resource-efficient thinking across all of its operational activities, including: power, waste, food, transport, promotional materials and even toilet paper. Øya has received a multitude of awards, including two ‘Green’N’Clean’ awards, and ‘A Greener Festival’ award for the previous six years. Every year over 90% of the food served at the festival is organic. Local produce is chosen when possible, and is preferably bought directly from the local farmers. There are always vegan or vegetarian alternatives.

In 2010, Øya switched from diesel generators to exclusively grid/mains power, which is 98% renewable-derived (mainly through Norway’s hydroelectricity generation) and has removed virtually all on-site emissions. The switch was implemented gradually, with a mix of generators and mains power in 2009. It required a major investment in new infrastructure for the festival, which the Øya was able to undertake through a partnership with the municipality of Oslo and their main sponsor at the time, Hafslund (a Norwegian power company who continue to supply the festival through the grid today).

Øya also made significant year-on-year electricity consumption reductions including a 9% reduction between 2011 and 2012, and a further 22% between 2012 and 2013. These energy reductions are the result of a variety of efficiency projects and awareness-raising campaigns with staff, volunteers and external vendors. Øya has integrated energy efficiency within the festival’s technical operations by rationalising the size of light and sound mixing tables, and using LED lighting and LED based strobe lights wherever possible.

In cooperation with Hjellnes Consult (consulting firm) and Nature and Youth (Øya’s main environmental partner), Øya conducts energy-awareness tours during the course of the festival. The main office in which Øya’s staff work throughout the year also carries ‘green office’ certification.

Thanks to the help of volunteers from Nature and Youth, who sort through every single bag of waste from the festival by hand, they are able to recycle about 70% of the waste from the festival into 15 different fractions each year. This saves the environment from CO2 emissions equivalent to what 35,000 cars emit every year.

Many thanks to Oya for the information for this case study.

oyafestivalen.com

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.

The Nationwide Caterers Association

Online Trader Tool Provides Energy Requirements

NCASS (The Nationwide Caterers Association) have launched Connect, a new online hub for administration and due diligence documentation. This will be of great assistance to both Food Safety Authorities checking food suppliers at festivals, as well as festival organisers and event planners predicting how much energy they’ll need to supply for traders.

Connect is a trader database, which contains important documentation and certificates such as training and hygiene certificates. It operates like an online passport into any events, as event organisers can simply vet trader applications through Connect rather than requesting documentation. What is even more revolutionarily, is the inclusion of an energy calculator, so mobile caterers and festival food suppliers can list the kilowatt needs of their appliances and gas requirements.

This will greatly improve festival organisers’ ability to estimate the energy required for their event, and subsequently better predict the capacity of the generators required to supply specific clusters of caterers. This will lead to huge savings, both in terms of money and energy – Powerful Thinking’s 2013 guide, “The Power Behind Festivals”, found that overprovision of generator capacity, and, subsequently, generators being run at low loads is common at festivals, and a big source of energy inefficiency.

Traders can join Connect for free, as can events and festival organisers and enforcement officers. It will be possible to see which traders and are signed up for what festivals. This will also improve efficiency for the Food Standards Agency and enforcement officers who will be able to check in advance which food suppliers they have already checked at earlier festivals.

NCASS will also partake in another sustainability initiative this summer. They’ll be linking up with FareShare and A Greener Festival to work on saving up to 60 tonnnes of food that is otherwise wasted at festivals. Eighth Plate, a food waste distribution project, will collect, redistribute and look at cooking food into meals. This food will be given to charities and food banks to provide free meals for those in need.

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.

We Love Green

Winner of the Green Operations Europe 2012 Award 100% renewable

We Love Green won the ‘Green Oscar’ of the European Festival industry in 2012. They designed a sustainable festival at the outset, and their attention to detail is exceptional. Amongst other achievements, they managed the event on 100% renewable sources., including stages, site services, catering and interactive art.

Firefly supplied the power, providing their Youpower playground and software for the children’s area, featuring 6 bikes with PedGens, a WhirlyGen roundabout, Teedlegen see-saw and LumberGens (the latest addition to their Kinectrics range of products). Their software shows just how much energy is being generated by these playground toys in real time. This is an excellent way of showcasing innovative green products while providing a fun interactive way of educating about the possibilities of clean tech.

They also provide the power for the lighting of the main stage. This is powered by a 45kVA solar rig consisting of 9 Cygnus solar generators and 14Fold Array portable solar PV panel arrays. This allowed for substantial carbon savings for the festival and provided silent, reliable power over the three day event.

Reading and Leeds Festival’s

Using waste vegetable biodiesel at major events works!

In the summer of 2011, both Reading and Leeds festivals endeavoured to procure biodiesel for fuelling some of their generators. Both were employing energy contractors, whom they have previously worked with, to supply a target percentage of biodiesel in some generators at the festivals. These contractors were contractually bound to provide data on the actual fuel consumption after both Reading and Leeds. However, Leeds’ contractor had more experience with providing biodiesel and had an established supply network.

Leeds managed to procure 18.52% of their energy from biodiesel in 2010, and managed to up this supply to 24.53% by 2011. This brought Leeds very close to meeting its 25.95% biodiesel target for 2011.

In 2010, Reading managed 12.51% biodiesel. This proportion then dropped to just 8.53% in 2011, despite the target being raised that year to 20.85% of the overall energy supply. Then in 2012 they brought this figure up to 18.24%, much closer to their initial target.

A variety of factors influenced the two different contractors in their ability to supply to required amount of biodiesel to each festival. This included a limited biodiesel supply in certain parts of the country, as well as a lack of suppliers. Biodiesel is also subject to price fluctuations. Complexities and important points to note in such a process include: how prepared contractors are in terms of equipment and sourcing to deliver on specific targets such as alternative energy supplies, how accurate power demand estimates are compared to actual demand, communication and feedback between the festival and the contractor.

Despite some teething problems with supplies, commitment to Waste Vegetable Oil biodiesel to subsidise the energy supply at such well known, large capacity festival is commendable, and will hopefully continue to grow. Early reports following the summer’s breakdown confirm that Reading and Leeds Festivals both managed to meet biodiesel substitution targets for the 2013 festivals. Reading’s fuel consumption included 21,600 litres of biodiesel and Leeds worked with 14,400 litres of biodiesel in the summer of 2013. The use of some solar energy at the festivals almost came to fruition in 2013, but in the end this was not deemed financially viable and wholly suitable. It can hopefully be pursued next year.

One of the main energy efficiency improvements of 2013 is that 50 of Reading and Leeds festivals’ generators on site were being monitored. Energy readings are being collated to establish just how much energy was used onsite. The figure for peak loads can be compared with the generator original power specs. This will give an indication of whether or not the generator was oversized for its purpose. Having the right capacity generator saves fuel and reduces the chance of damaging or reducing the device’s lifespan. This is one of the main ways to increase energy efficiency at festivals, making it an extremely important factor to consider.