Glastonbury Festival leverages renewable diesel to help eliminate fossil-fuel use

Glastonbury Festival announced June 19 that all of its power needs this year will be met by renewable energy and renewable fuels, eliminating the need to rely on fossil fuels for power across the festival.

Glastonbury Festival is a five-day event held June 20-25 in Pilton, Somerset, England, and is what the organizers call “the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world and a template for all the festivals that have come after it.”

All production areas will either be powered by electricity from lower-impact, fossil-fuel-free sources or will run on solar PV and battery-hybrid systems.

All generators across the festival site, including those that power the Pyramid Stage, will run on sustainable, palm oil-free renewable diesel fuel made from waste cooking oil, helping to reduce lifecycle CO2e emissions by up to 90 percent.

Arcadia’s giant fire-breathing spider will also run entirely off biofuels produced from recycled materials.

A temporary new wind turbine in Williams Green will provide clean, sustainable power to some market stalls, while clean energy from the festival’s own solar PV array and anaerobic biogas plant provide energy for the farm and festival offices.

“Sustainability has always been at the heart of Glastonbury Festival,” the organizers state. “Our green fields have run on solar, wind and pedal power since 1984, setting a fossil-fuel-free standard we’ve always aspired towards implementing across the festival. Since then, we have been drawing on technological innovation to help reduce our use of fossil fuels and strive towards creating a festival that is as sustainable as possible.”

Aside from power, the ban of the sale of single-use plastic drinks bottles and environmentally hazardous disposable vapes will help reduce waste and promote more sustainable alternatives at the festival.

In addition, an on-site recycling facility ensures the ability for hand-separation of waste for single-stream recycling, avoiding the need to send waste to landfill.

And thanks to the efforts of festivalgoers, over 99 percent of all tents and camping equipment has been taken home after the festival since 2019.

For more information about Glastonbury’s green initiatives, click here.