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Green Guardians 2024: Co-op Live, Latitude Festival, GEI & more

Welcome to the final part of IQ Magazine’s 2024 Green Guardians – our annual recognition of those eco-warriors and innovators at the forefront of the battle to make the live entertainment industry more sustainable.

The Green Guardians is spearheaded by IQ and an international panel of sustainability experts to highlight and congratulate companies and organisations who are improving the live music business when it comes to being more environmentally friendly.

This year’s list includes 22 entries across a wide range of event suppliers, campaigners, and solutions providers, all of whom are working tirelessly to reduce the carbon footprint of the live entertainment business.

IQ will publish entries across all categories over the coming days, and you can find the whole cohort in the latest edition of IQ here.

 


Co-op Live

New on the UK scene, Co-op Live opened its doors in May this year with sustainability at the heart of the Manchester venue.

Working with Aniron, a leader in commercial and industrial solar energy solutions, the arena has 3,300 solar panels on the roof of the downtown venue.

Once fully operational, the panels will yield nearly 1m kWh per year to aid in powering the building, which also features energy-efficient heat pumps, rainwater recycling, reusable cups, and locally sourced materials and food. The arena also plans to be zero-waste to landfill.

With a focus on fan travel, Co-op Live and Transport for Greater Manchester created a groundbreaking sustainability initiative allowing fans to travel for free on designated routes with an event ticket. An anticipated 1m fans will utilise the initiative over the next year.

 


Latitude Festival

The Suffolk-based UK festival began trialling hydrogen power across their event with a new partnership utilising GeoPura’s Hydrogen Power Units (HPUs) for clean energy at this year’s event (see GeoPura profile). The Festival Republic event, held from 25-28 July, replaced traditional diesel generators with zero-emission HPUs to provide clean electricity. The move aligns with the event’s Green Nation Sustainability Charter, which outlined its goals of reducing its carbon footprint and protecting the environment.

In addition to this change, the festival also used HVO biofuel in its generators, making these major power sources entirely fossil fuel-free. Climate and environmental groups, like Greenpeace, were also given space to engage with attendees about their efforts.

GeoPura’s CEO, Andrew Cunningham, praised Latitude: “By introducing reliable, zero-emission power, organisers are not only lowering the carbon footprint of the event but also enhancing the overall experience for all involved with cleaner air and quieter operations.”

Latitude’s initiative marks a new chapter for festivals and events moving toward renewable energy sources, reflecting a growing commitment to reduce emissions at these communal gatherings.

 


GEI17

Always at the forefront when it comes to green tech and systems to reduce carbon footprints, the Green Events & Innovations Conference (GEI) gathers leaders and innovators in the live sector to network and accelerate discussions around environmental and social best practice.

With many industry initiatives targeting a zero-carbon future, how the live sector moves towards a greener business framework has become a critical issue. GEI brings together experts, government reps, and cutting-edge organisations, to identify, share, and implement practical actions and holistic measures to help with this critical transition.

Conference sessions cover topics such as transport, energy, food, equality & inclusivity, climate justice, design & materials usage for circularity, while developers showcase various products and systems that can be used to help achieve sustainability goals.

2025’s edition will be held 25 February, the day before ILMC and in the same venue.

 


Øyafestivalen

The annual Norwegian music festival has tapped into its city’s power grid rather than use fossil-fuelled generators in an effort to protect its location in Oslo’s Tøyen Park. As a result, Øya says the festival site is fossil fuel-free, and organisers are aiming to have a completely emission-free site within the next few years.

Food at the event is almost entirely organic and mostly vegetarian or vegan, motivated by the desire to reduce the festival’s carbon footprint. All food packaging is compostable and turned into biogas – a renewable energy source made from the breakdown of organic waste – post-event, while all non-water beverages are served in reusable cups.

Staff have achieved a material recycling rate of roughly 75% as the festival’s garbage is hand-sorted onsite into 15 different categories. The event is committed to reusable products and regenerative energy sources, evidenced by its varied initiatives.

As a leader in festival sustainability, Øya publishes an environmental handbook for other outdoor festivals and events and is one of the Green Producers Tool developers, helping measure and reduce emissions for the entertainment and event industries.

 


Ecotricity Grid Faeries

The brainchild of sustainability entrepreneur Dale Vince OBE, founder of Ecotricity, and Claire O’Neill, A Greener Future co-founder, Grid Faeries is the world’s first 3MWh battery for the festival market. Debuting at Glastonbury Festival in June, the product powered the entire Arcadia Spectacular arena.

The system has also powered WOMAD’s Charlie Gillett stage with 100% green energy and Massive Attack’s Act 1.5, a one-day large-scale climate action accelerator event in Bristol, UK.

The founders are hoping to roll out Grid Faeries to more events next year and are also working nationwide in the UK to bring grid connection to commonly used event sites to make diesel generator usage a thing of the past.

 


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