This year, the two biggest players in live music, AEG and Live Nation, put energy and resources into making power sources at live events, and festivals in particular, cleaner and greener.
This largely took the form of batteries, with the option to use batteries to power not just the errant parking lot light but full mainstage operations becoming real with the evolution of technology, as driven by the electric vehicle industry.
The effect was felt at the highest levels, with Lollapalooza in August becoming the first major festival in the U.S. to power its mainstage using battery power. Meanwhile AEG/Goldenvoice, which has been experimenting with battery systems for a few years with lower-priority power needs, had a breakthrough year in 2024 through a hybrid system that uses industrial-tier batteries, clean generators, biodiesel, solar and grid power to dramatically reduce “scope 1” emissions at events. (“Scope 1” refers to the emissions created by power sources at the event itself, versus a scope 3 emission that would include carbon emitted by fan travel to and from shows.) The hybrid system from AEG/Goldenvoice saved the use of more than 6,000 gallons of diesel fuel (truly, stop for a second to consider how much that is) at its Portola Festival in San Francisco alone. This same system at Camp Flog Gnaw in L.A. in November ended up being, the company said, Goldenvoice’s “cleanest energy festival to date.”
What’s also encouraging is that huge and longstanding festival energy providers like CES Power are also looking at ways to implement battery systems and starting to shift inventory to include batteries.
These aren’t yet perfect systems. Batteries still must be charged by generators, with the standard diesel-chugging kind still primarily used for this charging. Plus, these systems are still more expensive than traditional power sources, which can make it hard for producers to use them even with the best intentions. But with industry leaders putting time, money and attention towards these projects, there’s reason to believe the trickle-down effect will happen in time as prices across the battery industry come down and technology advances.
When it comes to sustainability, there’s a lot of industry talk about freely sharing information about the stuff that’s working, given that this work is so important for the industry and humanity at large. And yet, one gets the sense that a competitive spirit is still driving some of this innovation within the perpetually-competitive live events world, which if true feels like a welcome battle to wage.
