Events of all kinds have a wide variety of energy needs, ranging from their operational requirements to venue construction projects and the transport of attendees.
The environmental impact of an event’s energy use varies according to its volume and source. Critical to both of these is the proportion of energy used generated from fossil fuels, such as electricity from coal-fired power stations or petrol and diesel used in event transport. Fossil fuels create harmful emissions that contribute to climate change and are also increasingly expensive to use. Organisers therefore have strong environmental, operational and commercial incentives to understand and monitor the energy impacts of their events.
What to measure
The most basic ‘input’ measure of these impacts is the existence of energy use plans:
- Energy Management Plan for the event in place (ASOIF reference EN-E1.1)
Developing an energy management plan is a first step towards adopting more sophisticated methods of measuring impacts and shows you are actively considering ways in which to minimise them. Public and private sector funders are also likely to seek assurance that you have these plans in place.
More detailed ‘output’ measures relating to energy use will typically require quantitative measurement and assessment. These include:
- Energy consumption per event-related visitor
- Energy consumption of event organisation and hosting
- Percentage of energy sourced from renewables or purchased through energy providers’ green power programme (ASOIF reference EN-E2.1)
- Biodiesel used to power generators
The OECD considers these impacts to contribute towards the UN SDG Affordable and Clean Energy (Target 7.2).
Energy impacts: How to measure them
The amount of energy used during the operation of an event should be relatively easy to measure through the metering and billing processes of its gas and electricity suppliers, including temporary and portable power supplies. These suppliers are also increasingly able to determine and evidence the proportion of energy they deliver that is generated from renewable sources. This measurement – or even a defined minimum percentage – could also be agreed in pre-event contracts.
Understanding event attendance will then enable you to make the per-visitor calculations described above.
Indirect energy use can be assessed through visitor surveys used to identify how attendees travelled to the event, as well as how long and where they stayed.
Resources such as the EU’s Future Festivals Tools can help you measure energy impacts, although it is important to remember these are not officially endorsed by eventIMPACTS partners; you should always consult with potential partners such as local authorities etc when determining the most appropriate mechanism to use.