Festivals should ditch diesel - Ecotricity boss

Batteries were used to power one of the stages at WOMAD for the first time

The founder of green energy firm Ecotricity has urged music festival organisers to "clean things up" by switching from diesel generators to renewable energy sources.

Dale Vince said his Stroud-based company helped WOMAD, Wiltshire's biggest festival, power one of its stages with batteries charged by renewable energy for the first time.

He said the move was a step in the right direction but big annual festivals should consider having a permanent connection to greener energy options.

Festival director Chris Smith said "inflationary pressures" across the sector had made switching to green energy a "longer term" project.

Dale Vince said festivals should look to be powered by green energy

The UK festival community alone uses in excess of 12 million litres of diesel annually, according to research by A Greener Future, a sustainability consultancy, and industry think tank Powerful Thinking.

Transport is another big source of emissions, and includes people getting to the event, and goods being ferried to and from the site.

'Doing things better'

Mr Vince said switching to renewable energy could improve the experience for festivalgoers.

"When you go to a festival and outdoor events the noise of the generator is not nice, the smell is not nice," he said.

"It's about cleaning things up and doing things better."

He said the company helped power WOMAD Festival's Charlie Gillett Stage using "three big batteries".

"We're trying to get diesel out of events. There's no reason why not," he said.

"We're talking tens of millions of litres of diesel being burned every year at music festivals."

'Remains an aspiration'

Mr Smith said working with Ecotricity to reduce diesel consumption was "the first vital step towards reducing the carbon footprint of the presentation of WOMAD'S artists".

"It remains an aspiration to build a hard-wired solution into our festival's infrastructure, a project started before the pandemic," he said.

"Since then the cost of materials and inflationary pressures across the sector have made this a longer term project.

"The Ecotricity battery is proof that it is possible to make a difference starting now."