A Greenhouse Gas
Emissions Assessment of
the 2015 Darwin Festival
2015
Greening the Darwin Festival
Funding acknowledgements:
This Greenhouse Gas Emissions Assessment received
funding from the City of Darwin. The baseline waste
audit included in the Assessment was funded by the NT
Environment Protection Authority. COOLmob
provided in kind Project Management support as well as
carrying out the Assessment.
Copyright © 2016: Environment Centre NT
This publication is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing
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review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part
may be reproduced by any process, without written
permission from the publisher.
Suggested citation: Greening the Darwin Festival – A
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Assessment for the 2015
Darwin Festival – COOLmob, Environment Centre NT,
2016
For requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and
rights, contact:
Environment Centre NT
PO Box 2120
DARWIN. NT 0801
Phone: +61 8 89811984
Email: [email protected] Web:
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 1
Contents
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. 3
Glossary ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Limitations ............................................................................................................................................... 5
1. Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... 6
2. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 8
2.1 Greening Darwin Festival ................................................................................................ 8
2.2 Who we are ............................................................................................................................ 9
3. Methodology ................................................................................................................................ 10
3.1 Project Lifecycle ................................................................................................................. 10
3.2 Reporting Standards ......................................................................................................... 11
3.3 Organisational Boundary and Operational Boundary ...................................... 11
3.4 Global Warming Potentials and Emission Factors ............................................ 12
3.5 Calculation Methodology ............................................................................................... 13
4. Greenhouse Gas Inventory ................................................................................................... 15
4.1 Data Availability and Quality ....................................................................................... 15
4.2 Key Assumptions ................................................................................................................ 15
4.3 Greenhouse Gas Emissions for 2015 Darwin Festival ...................................... 16
5. Waste .............................................................................................................................................. 20
6. Recommendations .................................................................................................................... 22
6.1 Management Approach .................................................................................................. 22
6.2 Monitoring and Evaluation ............................................................................................ 22
6.3 Mitigation ............................................................................................................................... 24
6.4 Communication .................................................................................................................. 24
7. References ..................................................................................................................................... 26
Appendices ............................................................................................................................................ 27
Appendix I - Data Provided by Festival Organisers ...................................................... 27
Appendix II Activity Data and Emission Factors ............................................................ 30
Appendix III - Darwin Festival 2015 COOLmob Food Stall Holder Survey ...... 32
Appendix IV – Darwin Festival 2016 COOLmob Waste Audits Objectives...... 33
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 2
List of Figures
Figure 1: Greening Darwin Festival Overall Methodology ......................................... 10
Figure 2: Main Emission Sources of the 2015 Darwin Festival ................................... 17
Figure 3: Emissions Sources Excluding Artist Air Travel ........................................... 17
Figure 4: Domestic Air Travel by Artists during 2015 Festival .................................. 18
Figure 5: Electricity Use by Primary Locations during Festival Activities ................ 19
Figure 6: Total Solid Waste Generated per Head – 2015 Darwin Festival ............... 20
List of Tables
Table 1: Project Milestones and Responsibilities....................................................................... 11
Table 2: Direct and Indirect Emission Sources .......................................................................... 12
Table 3: 100 year Global Warming Potentials (GWP) .......................................................... 12
Table 4: Data Quality and Availability ............................................................................................ 15
Table 5: Greenhouse Gas Emissions for 2015 Darwin Festival .......................................... 16 Table 6: Electricity Consumption by Primary Locations during Festival Activities. 19
Table 7: Darwin Festival 2015 Waste Profile .............................................................................. 20
Table 8: 2015 Practices and Recommended Future Practices ........................................... 23
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 3
Acknowledgements
The Environment Centre NT acknowledges and thanks the following organisations and staff for
their collaboration, cooperation and contributions during the project.
Darwin Festival and its organisers, and
Festival locations: The Amphitheatre, Brown’s Mart Theatre, Darwin Entertainment Centre,
Darwin Railway Club, Festival Park, Tatts Ticket Caravan and two accommodation rental
properties. We also acknowledge and thank the City of Darwin and the NT Environment Protection Authority for their funding support.
This Assessment relied on the commitment and expertise of the Carbon Accountant Project
Officer, Nisitha Dasanayake, and the in-kind Project Manager, Jessica Steinborner.
Glossary
Aerobic: Occurring in the presence of oxygen or requiring oxygen to live.
Baseline: The greenhouse gas emissions (from energy, waste and transport) that would
occur without policy intervention (in a business-as-usual scenario).
Black Balloons:
A communication metric. Each imaginary balloons filled with 50 grams of
greenhouse gases.
Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e):
Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, with each
gas having different physical properties and global warming potential. It is
conventional practice to express all gas emissions in ‘equivalent amounts of
carbon dioxide’ where ‘equivalent’ means ‘having the same global warming
potential over a period of 100 years’.
Carbon Neutral Certification:
Carbon neutrality is achieved when the net greenhouse gas emissions of an
organisation, a product, service or event, are equal to zero. This can be achieved
by reducing emissions and then purchasing and retiring offsets units to match or
'offset' the remaining emissions. The Carbon Neutral Program is a voluntary
scheme which certifies products, business operations or events as carbon neutral against the Australian Government National Carbon Offset Standard.
Cogeneration: The generation of electricity and useful heat jointly, especially the utilisation of
the steam left over from electricity generation for heating.
Emission Factors:
The average emission rate of a greenhouse gas that a source produces relative to
units of activity. Normally interpreted as a unit of CO2e.
Global Warming Potential (GWP):
A measure of how much energy the emissions of one tonne of a gas will absorb
over a given period of time, relative to the emissions of one tonne of carbon
dioxide. The larger the GWP the more that a given gas warms the earth
compared to carbon dioxide over that time period (usually 100 years).
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 4
Greenhouse Gas:
Atmospheric gas which contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing
infrared radiation.
Kyoto Protocol:
An international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change which commits its Parties by setting
internationally binding emission reduction targets.
Kyoto Protocol Gases
The targets for the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol cover
emissions of the seven main greenhouse gases: Carbon dioxide, Methane,
Nitrous oxide, Hydro fluorocarbons, Perfluorocarbons, and Sulphur
hexafluoride. During the second commitment period seventh gas, Nitrogen
Fluoride, will also be included as a Kyoto Protocol Gas.
Operational Boundary:
Operational boundaries categorise the emissions resulting either directly or
indirectly from the organisation’s (in this case the Darwin Festival’s) operations,
facilities, and sources.
Organisational Boundary:
Organisational boundaries define the operations, facilities, and sources that are
to be included in the inventory.
Passenger kilometre:
When a passenger is carried over one kilometre.
Tonne kilometre:
A unit of freight carriage equal to the transportation of one metric tonne of
freight one kilometre.
Acronyms
CO2e Carbon dioxide equivalent
DEFRA Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
L Litre
GHG Greenhouse Gas
GWP Global warming potential
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
NGAF National Greenhouse Gas Accounts Factors
NT EPA Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority
NTRS NT Recycle Solution Private Limited
p.km Passenger kilometres
WBCSD World Business Council for Sustainable Development
WRI World Resource Institute
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 5
Limitations
The 2015 Darwin Festival ran for 18 days between 14th to 21st August. This Greenhouse Gas
Emissions Assessment report assessed Festival activities within those dates. An annual
assessment would be necessary for a more comprehensive assessment including administration
activities, travel and waste during the year. The following are other limitations to this
assessment:
All data used during the 2015 emissions estimates was collected and provided by Darwin Festival organisers. Results will depend upon the accuracy and completeness of the
collection, recording and reporting of data.
There were no records maintained for individual fuel consumptions for each emission
source (generators, forklifts, vehicles, oil lamps, lighting towers, knuckle booms/cherry
pickers) by Festival organisers.
Emissions due to fuel used in food stalls were not included in this assessment due to lack of data.
There are only qualitative analyses provided for mitigation recommendations. Further
information and studies need to be done for comprehensive quantitative analyses.
No financial analysis was undertaken in regards to mitigation measures, eg carbon offsets
for flights.
Ref: Earth Day and the Greenhouse Effect. http://astrocampschool.org/greenhouse-effect/
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 6
1. Executive Summary
This baseline emissions assessment is a starting point for Darwin Festival
organisers to consider the Festival’s operational environmental impact and
recommends an understandable pathway towards carbon neutrality.
The organisations involved with this Assessment share a common understanding that people
and organisations can benefit from putting in place policies and practices to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.
These commonalities brought together the Environment Centre NT’s COOLmob, the Darwin
Festival, the City of Darwin and the NT Environment Protection Authority to collaborate in
producing a starting point for Darwin Festival’s efforts to GREEN itself, that is to reduce the
Festival’s greenhouse gas emissions and so reduce the negative impact the Festival has on the
environment.
The findings from this report show Darwin Festival organisers are in a good position to manage
the greenhouse gas emissions of future Darwin Festivals with relatively simple practices,
outlined below. With an extended sustainability policy in place based on the recommendations
in this report and with a strategic communication plan to promote sustainability efforts, Festival
organisers can move this important event along the path to becoming a government certified
Carbon Neutral event.
In addition this and future Assessments can be used as a cost cutting tool. Greenhouse gas
(GHG) assessments require a detailed account of energy use in day to day operations, and as such organisations can have a detailed understanding of where energy and fuel is used most, and
take steps to not only mitigate GHG emissions but also to reduce cost.
Working within its constraints, the Assessment monitored the amount of electricity and fuel
used, and the amount of waste produced by the Festival. The calculations made during the
Assessment were based on global carbon accounting standards and compared to everyday
knowledge so they can be visualised.
The key findings of the Assessment are summarised below.
The Festival emitted 281 tonnes of CO2e greenhouse gases in 2015. That is equivalent to
nearly 5.5 million Black Balloons (imaginary balloons containing 50 grams of pollution) into
the atmosphere. That is about 200 Black Balloons (o 10 kg of pollution) per ticket sold. The
most greenhouse gas emissions resulted from Festival related air travel (84%), mostly
domestic flights, and mostly originating from Melbourne.
Electricity was the second largest (9%) cause of greenhouse gas emissions. Between festival
set up and festival dismantling, eight Festival locations used as much electricity as 64
Territory houses would use in a month. Not surprisingly the Darwin Entertainment Centre
using the most electricity.
Fuel accounted for about 4.4% of Festival greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to what 174
Toyota Yaris cars would use if they were driven from Darwin to Katherine and back again.
NT Recycling Solutions reported that 52% of Festival waste was sent for recycling and 48% was sent to Shoal Bay Waste Management Facility. The total amount of waste generated per
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 7
person visiting the Festival was 716 grams. In future, a thorough waste audit could
determine how much of the waste sent to Shoal Bay would be recycled into electricity
production.
The following mitigation measures would prevent or offset greenhouse gas emissions
significantly for future Festivals.
Include an audit of administration activities throughout the year, including energy use,
waste, travel and other office activities.
Implement recommendations provided by of the comprehensive waste audit and waste education to be carried out for the 2016 Festival with funding from NT EPA (see Appendix
IV Project Summary, Greening the Darwin Festival, COOLmob Waste Audits).
Seek funding for transport and electricity audit to complement the above.
Undertake financial analysis (cost benefit analysis) to articulate scope and benefit of
investment.
Purchase carbon offsets for all Festival air travel by artists and their crews. This will target
the reduction of the highest emissions source: air travel.
Maintain the inside temperature levels 24 0C to 26 0C in Darwin Entertainment Centre and
Railway Club and use air conditioners in conjunction with fans if/when available.
Hire solar powered cold rooms after a comprehensive financial analysis.
Carry out a feasibility study to introduce solar power to the ticket caravan as an alternative
option.
Use hybrid vehicles for local travel.
Replace some flood lights with solar lights in the Amphitheatre and Festival Park.
Instruct stallholders to switch off lights in stalls during day time.
Review contracts and tender documents to include compliance with emission reduction
measures, and monitoring and evaluation processes in line with the Festival sustainability
policy.
Request contractors, service providers and artists to include their environmental
credentials and proposed emission reduction activities as part of their submissions.
Festival audiences are ripe for fun and new ideas and experiences, and often enjoy those
experiences more if they know how the environmental impacts of those activities have been
offset. By GREENING itself, Darwin Festival is already following a national and international
trend which can unify Festival contributors, reduce operational costs, create powerful
marketing tools, and benefit the local and global environment. The future of the Festival looks
bright.
Photos courtesy Darwin Festival Facebook page
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 8
2. Introduction
2.1 Greening Darwin Festival
A Greenhouse Gas Emissions Assessment of the 2015 Darwin Festival
This Emissions Assessment Report was a collaboration between the 2015 Darwin
Festival and the Environment Centre NT’s COOLmob program to identify levels of
greenhouse gas emissions and waste generation and their sources during the 2015
Festival against which future mitigative actions can be measured and promoted.
A Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Assessment quantifies or measures the total amount of
greenhouse gases produced directly and indirectly from an organisation, activity, product or
service. In other words GHG assessments reflect the amount of global warming caused by
activities. Standard assessments cover the seven greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto
Protocol, and reported in the unit of Carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e).
Darwin Festival is the major arts and cultural event of the Northern Territory. It has a 40 year
history of community engagement and successful programming that has grown into a
celebration of music, theatre, visual art, dance, cabaret in Darwin’s beautiful tropical
surroundings. For about three weeks every year, the Festival activates the city bringing $8.9
million into the Territory economy, and employing over one hundred arts workers. In 2015 the
Festival attracted 90,000 people. Festival organisers demonstrate a commitment to enhancing
the environment by minimising where possible negative impacts of Festival operations. The
Festival implemented initiatives for waste and water management during the 2015 Festival.
The City of Darwin is a major sponsor for the Darwin Festival and, through its Climate Change
and Environment grants program, provided funding for this project. It has a strong focus on
promotion and advocacy for the preservation and best practice management of Darwin’s
natural environment. By working with governments and the community, the City of Darwin is
committed to achieving long-term ecologically and culturally sustainable development within the
Darwin municipality.
The Northern Territory Environment Protection Agency (NT EPA) also provided funding for
this project which will continue into the 2016 Darwin Festival event. The NT EPA is an
independent corporation responsible for providing advice on the environmental impacts of
development proposals and policy advice and regulatory services to provide for effective waste
management, pollution control and sustainable practices.
COOLmob successfully gained funding support from the two organisations mentioned above, and after consulted with Festival organisers to determine the locations included in the
Assessment, collected information about energy use, waste and transport, aiming to:
set up an greenhouse gas emissions base line,
set up the waste baseline; and
provide recommendations for sustainability practices for energy and waste management
that would reduce the environmental impact of future festivals.
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 9
2.2 Who we are
COOLmob is the sustainable living program of the Environment Centre NT. It partners with all
levels of government, real-estate and development companies, the community and social
welfare sector to deliver:
carbon management plans,
commercial and residential energy assessments,
high quality research and technical outcomes,
large scale retro-fit programs,
community engagement,
behaviour change, and
capacity building projects.
The Environment Centre NT is the peak community environment organisation in the Northern
Territory, Australia. The Environment Centre NT and its predecessor organisations have been
working to protect the environment since 1983. The organisation works to:
protect and restore biodiversity, ecosystems and ecological processes,
foster sustainable living and development, and
cut greenhouse gas emissions and build renewable energy capacity.
Photos: Top: COOLmob staff collecting electricity data. Bottom: Festival staff checking cooking oil and
grey water collection; COOLmob fuel data sheet.
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 10
3. Methodology
3.1 Project Lifecycle
The main objective of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Assessment was to set up a baseline of the global warming impact due to the 2015 Darwin Festival energy use and waste generation.
COOLmob appointed an in-kind Project Manager and a Project Officer, then commenced the
project late in July 2015 with the mutual agreement with Darwin Festival organisers. The
following diagram illustrates the project process followed.
Figure 1: Greening Darwin Festival Overall Methodology
Emissions Calculations
Pre Festival
During Festival
After Festival
Project Objectives
Initial Information Collection
Site Visits
Data Gathering
Checking & Reconciliation
Waste baseline
Recommendations
Final Report
Project Objectives
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 11
Table 1: Project Milestones and Responsibilities
Project Phase Responsible Person(s) Date Completed
Project Objectives Festival Organisers (FO)/
COOLmob Project Manager (PM)
23rd July 2015
Initial Information
gathering
COOLmob Project Officer (PO) 03rd August 2015
Site Visits PO and FO 24th August 2015
Data Gathering FO and PO 30th November 2015
Checking and
Reconciliation
PO 10th December 2015
Waste baseline and
emission calculations
PO 20th December 2015
Recommendations PO and PM 30th December 2015
Final Report PM and PO 15th January 2016
3.2 Reporting Standards
The Assessment was carried out following the Greenhouse Gas Protocol published by World
Business Council for Sustainable Development/World Resource Institute and National
Greenhouse Gas Accounting Guidance(s) published by Department of Environment Australia.
In addition, during the selection of emission boundaries, the Carbon Neutral Program
Guidelines published by the Department of Environment were followed. Global Warming
Potentials identified in this Assessment were taken from the International Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report.
3.3 Organisational Boundary and Operational Boundary
One of the first steps in the Assessment was to define what to include and what not to include
in the Assessment.
Organisational Boundary
The following locations (primary locations) were selected for the Assessment after discussion
with Festival organisers, considering the level of activity of all Festival sites, and the availability
and access to data during and after the Festival.
Primary Locations Included in the Assessment
Amphitheatre
Brown’s Smart Theatre
Darwin Entertainment Centre
Darwin Railway Club
Festival Park
Tatts Ticket Caravan
Two rental accommodation properties for Festival use
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 12
Operational Boundary
Operational boundary categorise the emissions resulting either directly or indirectly from the
organisation’s operations, facilities, and sources. Direct emissions are emissions generated from
sources owned or controlled by the reporting company, in this case the 2015 Darwin Festival.
Indirect emissions are all the other emissions which are not owned or controlled by the
reporting company. However emissions due to electricity use from the gird should be reported
in accordance with world standards. The Assessment focused on the following direct and
indirect emission sources for the 2015 Darwin Festival.
Table 2: Direct and Indirect Emission Sources
3.4 Global Warming Potentials and Emission Factors
During the selection of the operational boundary each emission source was studied to identify
emissions of Kyoto gases. After the study the following Kyoto gases identified as potential
emissions within the operational boundary:
Carbon dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide and Hydroflurocarbons.
However it was assumed that depending on the technology and the operational period there
were no emissions due to leakage of Hydroflurocarbons.
Table 3 provides latest global warming potentials1 (GWP), for main three gases, ie how much
energy the emissions of one tonne of that gas will absorb over a given period of time, relative
to the emissions of one tonne of carbon dioxide. The larger the GWP the more that gas warms
the earth compared to carbon dioxide over that time period.
Table 3: 100 year Global Warming Potentials (GWP)
Gas Chemical Formula 100 - year GWP
Carbon dioxide CO2 1
Methane CH4 28
Nitrous Oxide N2O 265
1 Global warming potentials were referred from GHG Protocol website and contains latest IPCC 5th Assessment
Report values.
Direct Emission Sources Indirect Emission Sources
Oil Lamps Electricity
Power Generators Waste disposal
Owned/ controlled vehicles including forklift
and knuckle booms/cherry pickers
Business travel by staff
Lighting towers Air travel by artists and their crews
Freight deliveries
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 13
Emission Factors
Emission factors are the average emission rate of a greenhouse gas that a source produces
relative to units of activity.
To provide an accurate picture of the actual emissions of the 2015 Darwin Festival, emission
factors were selected considering availability, validity and geography. Geographically relevant
published factors by the National Greenhouse Gas Account (NGA) were used for electricity
and fuel use during the Festival. Emission factors for purchased electricity was chosen from
nationally published factors that relate to the Darwin-Katherine interconnected grid power
system. After careful and thorough research all other emission factors were selected from UK
Conversion Factors 2015. All emission factors are included Appendix I.
3.5 Calculation Methodology
All emissions were determined using activity data and emission factors. The general equation
used for all emissions was:
Where
E = Emissions in tonnes CO2e
i = Emission source
n = Number of emission sources
The following equations were used to determine total emissions from each category of
emission source: electricity, fuel use air travel, freight deliveries, road travel, and waste.
Electricity
Where
EFe = Electricity emission factor
For individual location(s) electricity consumption (kWh) refer to Appendix I.
Fuel Use
Total emissions due to different fuel uses were calculated by following equations
Where
Efuel = Total emissions due to fuel use
Ef = Emissions from each fuel category
n = Number of fuel categories
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 14
Emissions by fuel category determined by following equation
Where
Cf = Consumption of fuel in litres
EFfuel = Derived emission factor for fuel based on NGAF values
Refer Appendix I for detail emission factor derivations.
Air Travel
The greenhouse gas emissions from air travel were determined using passenger kilometres for
economy class domestic and international flights. The total passenger kilometres were
determined by following:
Air travel emissions were obtained using the following equation
Freight Deliveries
Freight emissions were calculated by multiplying of tonne.kilometres by relevant emission
factor. Emission factors were selected for rail and road transport separately.
Tonne.kilometers were obtained by following equation:
Waste
Emissions due to waste land filling were calculated using total
amount of waste send to landfill and an emission factor. These
emissions were not included to the final value because the
waste is used to generate renewable electricity at the waste
management site,
Photos L-R:
Darwin Festival waste
collection bins. Luna Park waste
collection bins.
Refer Appendix I and
Appendix II for detail
calculations.
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 15
4. Greenhouse Gas Inventory
4.1 Data Availability and Quality
Total emissions were estimated using data provided by Festival organisers and Festival
contractors/suppliers. A list of emission sources, availability and quality is mentioned in the following Table 4.
Table 4: Data Quality and Availability
4.2 Key Assumptions
In order to carry out emissions estimates some assumptions were made primarily due to time
constraints and the availability of information.
There was no refrigerant leakages from ice freezer machines and cold room during
installation, operation and uninstalling.
That during the Festival period, 80% of electricity used by Brown’s Mart was used for
Festival purposes and 70% from Darwin Railway Club.
All methane generated in waste processing facility was used for renewable energy
generation.
All wastewater was treated in aerobic environment and therefore fugitive methane
emissions were very minimal.
2 Only includes two staff members travel by vans between Adelaide - Darwin – Adelaide and Alice Springs –
Darwin - Alice Springs.
Emissions Source Data Availability Data Source Data Quality
Air Travel Available Flight details Complete
Electricity Available Meter readings ,
power bills and
supplier data
Complete for all locations
and estimates made where
electricity use was not solely
for Festival activities.
Fork lift, power
generators, lighting
towers and vehicles
Specific data not
available
Fuel cost Based on total cost and
approximate estimates
Waste Available NTRS report Complete
Freight deliveries Available Supplier data Partially complete
Staff travel from
vehicles2
Available Destinations Complete
Citronella oil
torches
Not available
Fuel use in Food
Stalls
Not available
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 16
All general waste was used to generate electricity in cogeneration facility, (that is one where
electricity and useful heat are generated jointly) in Shoal Bay Waste Management Facility.
4.3 Greenhouse Gas Emissions for 2015 Darwin Festival
The Assessment found that the total greenhouse gas emissions from the 2015 Darwin Festival
was approximately 282 tonnes of CO2e and 10 kg CO2e per ticket sold. Table 5 below gives a
breakdown of total emissions from emission sources.
Table 5: Greenhouse Gas Emissions for 2015 Darwin Festival
Emission Source
Activity
Data Units
Emissions/
(Tonne CO2e)
Total
Emissions
(tonnes
CO2e) CO2 CH4 N2O
Electricity
43,277 kWh 25.10
Production Fuel3
Diesel
4,187 litres 11.18 0.02 0.08 11.28
Petrol
487 litres 1.11 0.01 0.04 1.16
Other Fuel 4
Diesel
1,081 litres 8.70 0.01 0.06 2.91
Petrol
485 litres 3.33 0.03 0.11 1.15
Artists and their crews
Air Travel - Domestic
1,300,878 p.km 202.91 0.08 1.99 204.98
Air Travel - International short haul
89,891 p.km 7.83 0.00 0.08 7.91
Air Travel - International long haul
16,883 p.km 1.34 0.00 0.01 1.35
Festival Organisers’ Travel
Air Travel - Domestic
137,185 p.km 21.398 0.008 0.210 21.62
Road Travel
7,555 km 1.875 0.000 0.013 1.89
Freight
Inbound deliveries
Land
2,772 tonne.km 0.989 0.000 0.010 1.00
Rail
8,648 tonne.km 0.225 0.224 0.000 0.22
Outbound deliveries
Land
2,666 tonne.km 0.951 0.000 0.009 0.96
Rail
2,196 tonne.km 0.057 0.057 0.000 0.06
Total Emissions for the Festival 281.59
3 Production Fuel - Mainly used in generators, forklift and transport activities in production department in the
company as mentioned in data provided. 4 Other Fuel -Fuel used in vehicles by departments other than Production Department at organisers office
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 17
Total emissions in 2015 Darwin Festival nearly equals to 5,631,800 of Black Balloons (each
balloons represent 50g GHGs). This equates to 200 Black Balloons per ticket sold. The total
emissions avoided by disposing waste in a sustainable manner (that is general waste sent to
Shoal Bay Waste Management Facility) was approximately 37.31 tonnes CO2e. (See 4.2 Key
Assumptions.)
Figure 2: Main Emission Sources of the 2015 Darwin Festival
Figure 2 above shows that about 76.1% of total greenhouse gas emissions from the Festival
resulted from air flights by artists and their crews coming to Darwin from local and international
destinations. Organisers’ air travel also accounted for 8.3% of total emissions resulting in a total
of 84.4% of emissions coming from air travel. Therefore air travel emissions need to be managed
in order to have a significant reduction in emissions in future. In order to neutralise air travel
emissions approximately 10,921 trees need to be planted5. Figure 3 gives an enlarged view of
emissions other than artist air travel. A breakdown of emissions excluding artists’ air travel is
below.
5The value obtained based on 48 lbs of CO2 absorption rate per annum by a mature tree. CO2 absorption rates
depends on the tree type and environmental conditions. Therefore actual number of trees may differ from the
number 10,921, which need to be further evaluated.
Figure 3: Emissions Sources Excluding Artist Air Travel
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 18
After artists air travel, electricity use was the second largest greenhouse gas emitting source
during the Darwin Festival. Electricity use, combined with the categories of Production and
Other fuel, are operational areas that are within the direct operational boundaries of the
Festival Organisers. This illustrates that through operational procedures Festival organisers can
affect its environmental footprint and, if appropriate, generate offsets to produce a net emission
reduction for these areas of the Festivals operations. Figure 4 below shows the domestic
airports that artists departed from during the festival.
Figure 4: Domestic Air Travel by Artists during 2015 Festival
About 92% of the total air kilometres travelled by artists resulted from flights within Australia.
Most artists departed from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane airports. The kilometres they
travelled to get to the airports can be monitored separately for the 2016 Festival.
Photos courtesy Darwin Festival Facebook page
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 19
Electricity
One of the major energy sources for Festival activities was power acquired from the grid
electricity supply. Table 5 and Figure 5 illustrate different consumption levels for primary
locations considered in this Assessment.
Table 6: Electricity Consumption by Primary Locations during Festival Activities
No Location Electricity consumption
(kWh)
1 Festival Park 3,785
2 Brown's Mart Theatre 7,840
3 Amphitheatre 9,770
5 Tatts Ticket Caravan 508
6 Darwin Entertainment Centre 19,592
7 Two rental accommodation properties (combined) 888
8 Darwin Railway Club 894
Total consumption 43,277
Total electricity usage by festival locations during the festival is approximately equivalent to the
monthly consumption of 64 houses in Northern Territory. The highest electricity consumption
was recorded from the Darwin Entertainment Centre and lowest from Tatts Ticket Caravan.
The electricity consumption of Festival Park was less than that of the Amphitheatre and
Brown's Mart Theatre which may have been due to Festival Park using power generators for
some activities.
Figure 5: Electricity Use by Primary Locations during Festival Activities
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 20
5. Waste The total waste generated in the Festival falls into two categories: solid waste and liquid waste.
Table 7 below provides an overview of all waste generated between Festival set up and Festival
dismantling. All the results calculated are based on total head count of 90,000 attendees during
the Festival and NTRS waste report for 2015 Festival.
Table 7: Darwin Festival 2015 Waste Profile
Waste Type
Total waste
generated (kg)
Waste generated per
head (g)
Percentage (%)
SOLID WASTE
General Waste 31,088 345 48
Recycled Waste 33,318 370 52
Total Solid Waste 64,406 716
LIQUID WASTE
Cooking oils and fats 1,500 16.7 12
Grey water 11,250 125 88
Total Liquid Waste 12.750 142
TOTAL WASTE 77,165 860
Based on the Northern Territory Recycling Solutions (NTRS) report almost 52% of solid waste
generated was sent for recycling and 48% was sent to Shoal Bay Waste Management Facility
outlined below in Figure 6. Further study needs to be carried out to determine exact amount of
waste used for land fill and the amount used to generate electricity.
Figure 6: Total Solid Waste Generated per Head – 2015 Darwin Festival
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 21
Liquid waste was collected for the Amphitheatre and Festival Park. Primarily liquid waste was
generated from wash rooms and stalls. We do not have any further clear information in
particular about how liquid waste was treated or disposed after collection by the contractor.
Liquid waste generation should be further inspected, possibly during the 2016 Festival waste
related activities. For the purposes of this report we have assumed that liquid waste was
treated under aerobic conditions for emissions calculation purposes.
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 22
6. Recommendations
The Darwin Festival organisers are in a good position to manage the greenhouse gas emissions
of future Festivals and communicate the benefits of these efforts to festival participants as
important management and marketing tools. The recommendations are broadly to:
review the approach to Festival management to include policy and operational procedures
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
solidify data collection systems,
extend the monitoring and evaluation programs for the Festival to be ongoing, and
develop a targeted communication strategy.
6.1 Management Approach
Darwin Festival Sustainability Report commits Festival organisers to minimise environmental
impacts in different areas. COOLmob has secured funding from the NT EPA to support the
2016 Festival and undertake a comprehensive waste audit and waste education program. The
following recommendations would make the task of reviewing the Festival’s sustainability
management system easier and more effective, and implement waste monitoring.
Identify all aspects of Festival management that relate to environmental management.
Engage COOLmob as a consultant to give advice on sustainable policy development.
Correlate greenhouse gas emissions with financial reporting to determine the business case to secure funding.
Develop, implement and evaluate a sustainability policy and related management procedures
covering all areas of Festival operation and considering internal and external stakeholder
requirements.
Develop, implement and evaluate a sustainability communication program.
Review 2015 Organisational Boundary outlined in this report when developing the scope of
the proposed 2016 audit.
6.2 Monitoring and Evaluation
Define sustainability objectives and targets with timelines.
Implement programs to achieve environmental targets.
Continually monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the sustainability management system.
Continually review sustainability performance by management,
Update and improve the sustainability management system according to monitoring and
evaluation findings.
Inspect and identify new emission sources and changes to current emissions sources during the 2016 Assessment.
Liquid waste generation should be further inspected.
Plan for continuous improvement towards sustainability after 2016 by allocating extra budgets for sustainability and emissions management as an ongoing process.
This initial baseline Assessment is based on data provided by Festival organisers. The following
Table 7 lists the 2015 monitoring practices and provides recommended improved monitoring
techniques for future Festivals.
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 23
Table 8: 2015 Practices and Recommended Future Practices
2015 Practices Recommended Future Practices
Electricity monitoring
Start and final power meter readings for Festival Park and Amphitheatre
were recorded
Ticket caravan power not monitored
Monthly power bills for Darwin Entertainment Centre and Darwin
Railway Club were analysed
Start and final power meter readings
for Brown's Mart Theatre
No access to monitor power in the Festival office
Monitor and record daily electricity meter readings for both locations
Install a separate power meter on ticket
caravan and monitor daily usage
Increase to daily meter readings and take record from power meters rather than bills
Continue the same practice and clarify the
consumption calculation methodology.
Take daily meter readings
Implement an alternative method to monitor/estimate the Frogs Hollow Festival
office energy use with Coolmob
consultants in planning stage 2016
Fuel Use including ( Production and Other fuel)
Total cost for fuel usage was recorded
as a budget code.
Monitor and record fuel usage for power
generators, forklift, lighting towers and
knuckle booms/cherry pickers separately.
Monitor and record monthly details for Festival organisers’ vehicle use (utes,
trucks, vans) and fuel details including
odometer readings during the year
Monitor and record daily citronella torch
oil usage
Ensure calibrated fuel meters or methods to monitor fuel consumptions for
generators forklifts, etc.
Stall holder fuel consumption details
Not monitored Carry out a survey to obtain how much
fuel use for each stall using the provided
questionnaire ( Appendix III)
Waste
Final waste collected by NTRS Carry out a comprehensive waste audit
Implement a monitoring program for paper
use by Festival organisers during Festival
organisation period in order to include
emissions due to paper use for Carbon
Neutral certification in future
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 24
6.3 Mitigation
The following mitigation measures would prevent or offset greenhouse gas emissions
significantly for future Festivals.
Include an audit of administration activities throughout the year, including energy use,
waste, travel and other office activities.
Purchase carbon offsets for all Festival air travel by artists and their crews. This will target
the reduction of the highest emissions source: air travel.
Hire solar powered cold rooms after a comprehensive financial analysis.
Carry out a feasibility study to introduce solar power to the ticket caravan as an alternative
option.
Use hybrid vehicles for local travel.
Maintain the inside temperature levels 24 0C to 26 0C in Darwin Entertainment Centre and
Railway Club and use air conditioners in conjunction with fans if/when available.
Replace some flood lights with solar lights in the Amphitheatre and Festival Park.
Instruct stallholders to switching off lights in stalls during day time.
Implement recommendations provided by of the comprehensive waste audit to be carried
out for the 2016 Festival with funding from NT EPA (see Appendix IV Project Summary,
Greening the Darwin Festival, COOLmob Waste Audits).
Seek funding for transport and electricity audit to complement the above.
Review contracts and tender documents to include compliance with emission reduction
measures, and monitoring and evaluation processes in line with the Festival sustainability
policy.
Request contractors, service providers and artists to include their environmental credentials and proposed emission reduction activities as part of their submissions.
6.4 Communication
Implement and evaluate a targeted sustainability communication strategy including activities
prior to, during and after Festivals, and using a wide range of media: print, radio, TV, social
media and relevant websites.
Publish the sustainability policy and Greening the Darwin Festival reports.
Publicise the intentions of the sustainability policy and findings of previous years making use of the 2015 image of one ticket 200 black balloons.
Seek creative solutions to reduce emissions from sources most impacted by Festival goers,
for example providing more engaging waste collection methods and displays.
Implement a targeted waste collection strategy to separate containers with 10c refundable deposit.
Collect sustainability information materials suitable for the different needs of Festival
stakeholders.
Conduct and train all staff members and volunteers about sustainability objectives of the
Festival and the local and global benefits, including efforts make by other national and
international Festivals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 25
Prior to the call for contractors and tenderers, hold information sessions and distribute
information packages to outline the Festival’s sustainability policy and its implications and
how to comply with sustainability policies and procedures.
Communicate to all organising staff, suppliers, stall holders and contractors their role within
Festival activities to achieve the objectives outlined in the Festival sustainability policy.
During Festivals, communicate and celebrate the Festival sustainability practises and their benefits.
After the Festival celebrate and share results of changes tracked in the 2016 Assessment
and the path towards Carbon Neutral certification.
Photos courtesy Darwin Festival Facebook page
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 26
7. References
Arbor Environmental Alliance. (2008). Carbon & Tree Facts. Retrieved from Arbor
Environmental Alliance: http://www.arborenvironmentalalliance.com/carbon-tree-
facts.asp
BillRepublic Pvt Ltd. (2015). What is the average household electricity usage in Australia? Retrieved
from BillRepublic: https://www.billrepublic.com/average-electricity-usage/ Deapartment of Environment of Australia. (2014, December 01). National Greenhouse Gas
Account Factors. Retrieved 2015, from Government of Australia - Department of the
Environment: https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/b24f8db4-e55a-
4deb-a0b3-32cf763a5dab/files/national-greenhouse-accounts-factors-dec-2014.pdf
Department of Environment , Food & Rural Affairs. (2015, December 01). Greenhouse Gas
Account Factor Respository. Retrieved from Government conversion factors for company
reporting: http://www.ukconversionfactorscarbonsmart.co.uk/
Department of the Environment Australia. (2015, July 01). Carbon Neutral Program Guidelines.
Retrieved from Government of Australia- Deartment of the Environment:
https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/656e59b1-38cb-4dc9-bbfd-
a6eaabcb781a/files/carbon-neutral-program-guidelines-v4.pdf
Jacana Energy Pvt Ltd. (2014). Publicatios. Retrieved from Jacana Energy:
http://jacanaenergy.com.au/news_and_publications/publications
Rockwell Collins. (n.d.). Time and Distance Calculator. Retrieved from Arnic Direct Flight
Manager: http://www.flightmanager.com/index.html
World Resource Institute, World Business Council for Sustainable Development. (2014,
December 08). GHG Protocol. Retrieved from GHG Protocol:
http://www.ghgprotocol.org/
WRI & WBCSD. (2014, December 08). Global Warming Potentials. Retrieved from GHG
Protocol: http://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/ghgp/Global-Warming-Potential-
Values.pdf
Photos courtesy Darwin Festival Facebook page
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 27
Appendices
Appendix I - Data Provided by Festival Organisers
Electricity
Location Electricity consumption (kWh)
Amphitheatre 9,770
Brown's Mart Theatre 7,840
Darwin Entertainment Centre 19,592
Darwin Railway Club 894
Festival Park 3,785
Tatts Ticket Caravan 508
Two accommodation rental properties 888
Note: Electricity consumption for Tatts ticket caravan, Darwin Entertainment Centre consumption were
estimated and will be illustrated in Appendix II.
Production Fuel
Fuel type Diesel (l) Petrol (l)
Fuel consumption 4,187 487
Other Fuel
Fuel type Diesel (l) Petrol (l)
Fuel consumption 1,081 485
Freight
Inbound Deliveries
Land transportation (truck) 2,772 tonne.km
Rail transportation 8,648 tonne.km
Outbound Deliveries
Land transportation 2,666 tonne.km
Rail transportation 2,196 tonne.km
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 28
Artist Air Travel
Staff Air Travel – Air
Waste
Flight Type Value Unit
Domestic 1,300,878 passenger.km
International Short-haul 89,891 passenger.km
International Long-haul 16,883 passenger.km
Flight Type Value Unit
Domestic 137,185 passenger.km
Location Bin Material Empties
Total
Weight
(kg)
General Waste
Civic Park Compound 240l General 454 17252
3m
frontlift General 11 3190
Amphitheatre
240l General 119 4522
1100l General 16 2784
Winnellie
240l General 4 152
1100l General 2 348
8m skip General 3 2840
Total 609 31088
Recycle Waste
Civic Park Compound
240l Rosette Bottle & Can 335 25125
660l Card/Paper 28 742
1100l Card/Paper 6 318
3m front lift Card/Paper 5 525
Amphitheatre
240l Rosette Bottle & Can 73 5475
660l Co-Mingle 11 550
1100l Card/Paper 11 583
Total 490 33318
Liquid Waste (quantities in litres)
Civic Park Compound
Pump-out Cooking oil & fats 3 1000
Pump-out Grey water 8 10550
Amphitheatre
Pump-out Cooking oil & fats 1 500
Pump-out Grey water 2 700
Total
12750
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 29
Emission Factors
Reference - Department of the Environment
Electricity
Emission factor Unit
0.58 CO2e/ kWh
Fuel
Fuel Type Energy Content
Factor Unit
Emission factors ( kg CO2e/GJ)
CO2 CH4 N2O
Diesel - Transport 38.6 GJ/kl 69.2 0.1 0.5
Diesel - Stationary 38.6 GJ/kl 69.2 0.1 0.2
Gasoline/Petrol 34.2 GJ/kl 66.7 0.6 2.3
Derived factors for Fuel
Fuel Emission factor ( kg CO2e/l)
CO2 CH4 N2O
Diesel 2.67112 0.00386 0.0193
Petrol 2.28114 0.02052 0.07866
Reference - http://www.ukconversionfactorscarbonsmart.co.uk/
Freight
Source Emission factor ( kg CO2e/l)
CO2 CH4 N2O
Rigid Truck 0.35661 0.0001 0.00353
Rail 0.0259 0.00004 0.00007
Air Travel
Emission factor ( kg CO2e/l)
CO2 CH4 N2O CO2e
Air Travel - Domestic 0.1560 0.0001 0.0015 0.16
Air Travel - International
Short Haul
0.0871 0.0000 0.0009 0.09
Air Travel - International
long Haul
0.0795 0.0000 0.0008 0.08
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 30
Appendix II Activity Data and Emission Factors
The following table provides activity data and relevant emission factor for each source and resulted emissions.
Emission Source Activity Data Units
Emission Factors / (kg CO2e/unit) Emissions/(Tonne CO2e) Total
(Tonnes
CO2e) CO2 CH4 N2O Total CO2 CH4 N2O
Electricity
43,277 kWh
0.58 25.10
Production Fuel
Diesel
4,187 litres 2.67 0.00 0.02 2.69 11.18 0.02 0.08 11.28
Petrol
487 litres 2.28 0.02 0.08 2.38 1.11 0.01 0.04 1.16
Other Fuel
Diesel
1081 litres 2.67 0.00 0.02 2.69 2.89 0.00 0.02 2.91
Petrol
485 litres 2.28 0.02 0.08 2.38 1.11 0.01 0.04 1.15
Artists
Air Travel - Domestic
1,300,878 p.km 0.1560 0.0001 0.0015 0.16 202.91 0.08 1.99 204.98
Air Travel - International
Short Haul
89,891 p.km 0.0871 0.0000 0.0009 0.09 7.83 0.00 0.08 7.91
Air Travel - International
long Haul
16,883 p.km 0.0795 0.0000 0.0008 0.08 1.34 0.00 0.01 1.35
Organizers Travel
Air Travel - Domestic
137,185 p.km 0.156 0.000 0.002 0.158 21.4 0.008 0.210 21.62
Road Travel
7,555 km 0.248 0.000 0.002 0.250 1.88 0.000 0.013 1.89
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 31
Emission Source Activity Data Units
Emission Factors / (kg CO2e/unit) Emissions/(Tonne CO2e) Total
(Tonnes
CO2e) CO2 CH4 N2O Total CO2 CH4 N2O
Freight
Inbound deliveries
Land
2,772
tonne.k
m 0.357 0.0001 0.00353 0.36 0.989 0.000 0.010 1.00
Rail
8,648
tonne.k
m 0.026 0.0259 0.00004 0.026 0.225 0.224 0.000 0.22
Outbound deliveries
Land
2,666
tonne.k
m 0.357 0.0001 0.00353 0.36 0.951 0.000 0.009 0.96
Rail
2,196
tonne.k
m 0.026 0.0259 0.00004 0.026 0.057 0.057 0.000 0.06
TOTAL EMISSIONS 281.59
Values are rounded off and therefore would have some deviations when multiplying
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 32
Appendix III - Darwin Festival 2015 COOLmob Food Stall Holder Survey
Question Answer
1. Stall Holder Name
2. Contact Number/ email
3. Stall Name / Number
4. Number of days participating
5. Stall Location ( Eg: Festival Park)
6. Are you using following during the festival
LP Gas Yes/ No
Wood Yes/ No
Kerosene Yes/ No
Charcoal (BBQ) Yes/ No
If yes please provide rough quantities(use) during the festival
LP Gas ( kg)
Fire Wood ( kg)
Kerosene (litres)
Charcoal (kg)
7. Please write what you do with following waste
( Eg Recycle / Reuse / Dispose with general waste)
Food waste
Ash from wood burning
Paper and polythene
Other Consumables
(Plastic plates/napkins/etc)
8. Please include quantities ( estimates / actual) in kg
Food waste
Ash from wood burning
Paper
Polythene
Other Consumables
(Plastic/plates/napkins/etc)
Greening the Darwin Festival 2015 - Page 33
Appendix IV – Darwin Festival 2016 COOLmob Waste Audits Objectives
Objectives How will you achieve this objective? 1. Measure the amount of waste
generated by the 2016 Darwin Festival
activities
1.1 Desktop research and conversations with
Festival staff re. past Festivals
1.2 Deliver a Waste Audit of 2016 Darwin Festival
2. Provide recommendations to
Festival to be able to reduce waste in
future Festivals
2.1 Produce a COOLmob Waste Audit report
with Recommendations
3. Improve organic waste recycling at
Festival activities
3.1 Investigate current levels of organics recycling
(composting)
3.2 Provide extra new composting facilities for
Festival venues
3.3. Measure (audit) the amount of organics
collected and composted
4. Maximise the outcomes of these
waste audits: share learnings, promote
outcomes
3.1 Publicly communicate the learnings of the
waste audit (only with Darwin Festival permission)
3.2 Assist Festival to communicate their waste
saving achievements
3.3 Promote this project via COOLmob usual
channels (website, newsletters, social media and
networking)