Eavis plans poo power

Glastonbury festival organiser Michael Eavis has announced that he plans to run the next edition of the iconic festival on waste from his farm and wind power. Eavis plans to install a bio-digester at Worthy Farm in partnership with a neighbouring farm – and animal waste including cow dung as well as waste food and other organic material will be used to produce gas which can be converted into sustainable power and also harvest the wind with turbines.  The Festival boss is quoted as saying this in Bloomberg “The big thing is the bio-digester that we’re looking at to turn the cow manure into energy… We’re planning a bio-digester at the moment. We’re joining the two farms together and building a big one with the farm next door so we’ll get a lot of electric from that, which will be day and night. It’s very good stuff, fossil- free electricity.” Eavis also said that he is planning a 10-kilowatt wind turbine at the site in a bid to make the festival the greenest ever. Back In 1994 the festival first had a wind turbine beside the main stage. Eavis has already installed 1,100 solar photovoltaic modules on the roofs off his cow barns producing electricity for 40 homes.. The Bloomberg article also reveals that the festival uses tractors running on 100 per cent biodiesel, solar showers and composting toilets.

The next Glastonbury festival will be in 2013 after a year off to rest Worthy Farm.

More here http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-19/glastonbury-plans-to-use-cow-manure-wind-to-power-music-festival-in-u-k-.html

Eavis sails with the Rainbow Warrior III

Glastonbury festival organiser Michael Eavis has been on the bridge of Greenpeace’s new Rainbow Warrior III – on the first test run up the Thames in London. Eavis, once upon a time a merchant seaman before taking over the running of Worthy Farm, was joined by daughter Emily and her son George, Michael’s grandson, born just before this year’s festival. The boat will now undergo sea trials.

This is the third Rainbow Warrior– the first, notoriously, was sunk in New Zealand in 1985 by French commandos to prevent it hampering nuclear tests in a Polynesian atoll. The second has just been retired to Bangladesh, where it serves as a hospital ship. Rainbow Warrior III is bigger, greener and, for the first time, purpose built, which the organisation says will showcase green shipbuilding technologies. The huge A-frame mast system can carry considerably more sails than a conventional mast on a vessel of this size, meaning that the ship will travel, as far as possible, under wind power. The ship has 1200 Square metres of sail. The new ship will have both diesel and electric engines but these are expected to be in use for less than 10% of its time at sea and the aim is to drastically reduce emissions and to burn far less fuel and the main propulsion will be by wind. Systems to recycle the engine’s heat and waste “grey” water, and a hull designed to minimise friction in the water, add to its green credentials.

The Good, the Bad & the Queen, featuring Greenpeace supporters Damon Albarn and Paul Simonon, formerly of the Clash, gave a performance on-board for Greenpeace.

See the video here  http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/10/greenpeace-launches-rainbow-warrior-glastonbury and pictures and a video here http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/news/rainbow-warrior-photos

Picture: Greenpeace

Eavis calls for sky lantern ban

Following on  from the BBC Countryfile investigation into the damage and injury that can be caused to the countryside by Chinese Lanterns, The BBC One show on Tuesday 2^nd August highlighted the ever growing problem with Chinese or ‘sky’ lanterns, the paper lanterns that fly into the night sky when lit. The One Show looked at fire damage to cars from rogue lanterns, the real risk of houses fires – and even personal injury to both adults and children from molten wax.

The Civil Aviation Authority has asked the public  not to use sky lanterns near airports. The Coastguard have had said they have had hundreds of false emergency calls are caused by sky lanterns. The NFU wants a total ban on Sky lanterns, saying they cause damage to farmland, the countryside and to grazing animals and the Chief Fire Officers Association says that there should be a Government review and a ban should be looked  at – saying that safety issues outweigh other considerations. Glastonbury  organiser Michael Eavis has banned sky lanterns  at the Festivals (although they are still snaked in) but Michael says that there is a real risk of tents catching fire – and cattle have already been  fatally injured . Michaels says that they should be banned as they are a “real real menace”

There are safer Sky Orbs with solid fuel cells and flame retardant paper, and following instructions will improve safety, but  in Germany and Australia sky lanterns have been banned and many like Michael Eavis want a total ban, NOW.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0134hbr/The_One_Show_02_08_2011/

Glastonbury turns on solar array

The sun shone on the Glastonbury Festival site today as an excited crowd watched Festival Organiser Michael Eavis officially switch on Worthy Farm’s new solar electric array. Michael said: “We now not only do the best festival in the world, we also have the best solar power system.”

More than 1,100 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof of the
“Mootel”cowshed can generate enough power for 80% of the farm’s electricity demand and export excess to the grid. Saving more than 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime, the system is part of the festival’s environmental commitment to “Love The Farm – Leave No Trace”.

 

see the short film from the launch by Harriet Hoare and Mandy Briggs here http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/newsa-film-from-the-solar-launch

 

 

 

Facts and figures about the Worthy Farm solar photovoltaic system

•   The largest private solar electricity-generating system in the UK.

•   Generates enough electricity to meet the annual demand of 40 average households.

•   Helps combat climate change by saving about 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

•   The system, installed on the roof of Worthy Farm’s cow shed, contains more than 1,100 solar photovoltaic (PV) modules.

•   The PV modules generate direct current electricity which is converted into alternating current by two large inverters. The power can then either be used in Worthy Farm’s buildings, or, when there is more supply than demand, exported to the grid.

•   With the benefit of the government’s new feed-in tariff for renewable energy, the payback time for the system is expected to be about nine years. The system is designed to keep operating for at least 20 years.

•   The installation was organised by Solarsense, based in Bristol.  The modules were manufactured by Romag in County Durham.  The grid connection was provided by Western Power Distribution.  The inverters have been supplied by Swiss company Sputnik Engineering.   A loan to enable the project to proceed was made available by Triodos Bank.

•   This is the latest initiative by Glastonbury Festival to reduce its environmental impact under the banner of “Love The Farm – Leave No Trace”. More details at www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk .

Photo: (c) 2010 Matt Cardy. Used with kind permission.

Glastonbury reservoirs save water miles

Think of 177,500 people in a Somerset Valley usually home to a herd of dairy cattle. Think of a large town built out of canvas. Think of the amount of food and water needed to keep that town going – and there are no sewers, drains, pipes or water towers – and remember what goes in must come out! Michael Eavis and his team at the Glastonbury Festival have taken a long hard look at the logistics of feeding and watering a town centre the size of Sunderland – in a field – and realised that that in 2008 the Festival used  168 tankers to carry in water by road and that sewage was being driven off site in a 90 mile round trip to Avonmouth. By 2009 the reliance on tankers had decreased to 108 tankers as the festival took action to reduce water miles by building reservoirs on site and it is planned just 6 tankers will be needed in 2010.  And the sewage – that will be going to a local site within ten miles of Worthy Farm, ramatically reducing fuel use by over 90% – from 2800 gallons to just 250 gallons. The Festival has now completed the installation of thre second of two planned reservoirs and Michael Eavis considers the money well spent saying “the water works cost £250,000 and the sewage investmet was £45,000 but we will be making real savings and that is forever. To be entirely carbon neutral would be to not have a show at all. But we are attempting to make a difference”. This year’s headiners at the Somerset mega bash, now in its 40th year,  include U2 and Muse.

www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

Solar, so good – Glastonbury catches the sun

Worthy Farm, home of Glastonbury Festival, will soon also play host to the UK’s largest private solar electricity system. Festival organiser Michael Eavis is set to invest in 1,500 square metres of solar panels, which will generate the same amount of power annually as used by 40 homes.

The 1,100 solar panels will sit atop the barns which are home to the Worthy Farm herd while the Festival is on. On a clear, sunny day, the panels are expected to generate some 200kW of power. Any power which isn’t used on the farm will be exported to the National Grid.

Because solar panels create clean electricity, the Worthy system will save around 100 tonnes of CO2 a year (equivalent to the total annual footprint of 10 people in the UK).

Michael Eavis said ”It’s a very exciting project for us. We first had renewable energy at the Festival in 1979 and we’ve been trying to increase it ever since. We want the Festival, and the farm, to be as green as they can be. The solar panels will make a huge contribution towards that.”

Work will begin to install the panels on August 1, as long as planning permission is granted and surveys confirm that the barn roof is strong enough to hold the panels.

www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk   Picture: Nick Cordes

First sustainable events conference a big success

The first Sustainable Events Management Conference, hosted by Buckinghamshire New University and sponsored by A Greener Festival, Julie’s Bicycle and the European festival’s association Yourope, proved a big hit with delegates at Missenden Abbey on the 23rd September. The one day conference, with delegates from Denmark, Eire, Germany, Finland, Switzerland,  The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, featured presentations from Meegan Jones (Festival Republic) on the waste salvage programme at Reading Festival,  Thomas Neibuhr (Roskilde Festival) on Roskilde’s climate change campaign and a keynote speach from Alison Tickell (Julies Bicycle) on the impact of audience travel. The afternoon kicked off with a panel chaired by musc lawyer and A Greener Festival co-founder Ben Challis (AGF/BNU) featuring Bob Wilson (Greenpeace), Claire O’Neill (AGF/Association of Independent Festivals) and Joby Russell (Big Green Coach Company) along with Meegan and Alison looking at the topic   ‘is green too expensive’ and this was followed by a presentation from Penny Mellor (the event safety and welfare specialist and one of A Greener Festival’s environmental assessors) on new developments and trends in environmentally friendly practices at music festivals.  The whole day was chaired by Teresa Moore (Bucks Uni) who summarised a number of key thoughts from the Conference:

*  Behavioural change is critical – from organisers to the audience to  crew to artists to suppliers to regulators.

*  Event organisers and artists can influence environmentally friendly practices by managing the supply chain

* Benchmarking and working towards year on year reductions in carbon emissions is an important step forward.

*  Clear and authoritative research is critical – it supports change – but when implemented organisers need to balance scietific evidence with practical decision making

* Events are often strong brands and can be used to influence others such as sponsors and suppliers.

* Implementing green can be expensive initially but as an ongoing process soon benefits from economies of scale

*  It is clear that in the future legislative change will mean we will all have to implement cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. Doing nothing is not an option. Preparing for change is responsible and sensible action.

* There will soon be a cost in NOT having sustainability at the core of your business

Delegtates included representatives from Ruisrock Turku (Finland), Open Air St Gallen (Switzerland), RheinKultur (Germany),  Provinssirock (Finland), The Glastonbury Festival (UK), Reading and Leeds Festival (UK), Lattitude (UK), The City of London Festival (UK),  The Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Roskilde Festival (Denmark) , North Sea Jazz Festival,  Lowlands  Festival (both in the Netherlands), Vantaan Festival (Finland), Derby College (UK) , Buckinghamshire New University (UK), Espirit Arena (Germany) and Trinity College Dublin (Eire).

Delegates at the 2009 Conference – say ‘cheese’ please

Some of the presentations from the day will shortly be available online at  www.crowdsafetymanagement.co.uk