THOUGHT LEADER
can do, but now we ask ourselves: ‘What’s the next step?’” EMG’s next move was acquiring a fully electric ten-tonne truck from Volvo last year. But the company is well aware that being a leader sometimes means having to wait for others to catch up. “Logistically, we now have to plan to ensure it can always be fully charged. Unfortunately, the recharging infrastructure in the UK is not there on a commercial basis just yet. Give it five years, and we will see more. But we’re willing to take a chance on it and use our initiative. Then, we can look across the wider fleet and see how we can invest in non-combustion engines going forward.” Not all HVO fuels are equal; to create HVO, you need to grow crops from which oil can be extracted and refined. The worst offenders are palm oil plantations, which can annihilate natural habitats. Paired with climate change increasingly threatening food supplies, choosing between feeding machines and humans is not a desirable position for anyone. HVO is a transition fuel; it’s to be used to allow the discontinuation of diesel immediately with the goal of replacement by zero-emissions technology as quickly as possible. ZERO-EMISSIONS OPTIONS Zero-carbon options are coming online quickly across industries. A number of companies are offering batteries as replacements for internal combustion generators on-set. There are practical benefits to using battery power, beyond the environmental ones. Batteries are essentially silent so can be run close to the action, as well as in noise-sensitive environments or neighbourhoods. Zero emissions also means better working conditions for crew members – a gaffer working alongside diesel generators for an entire career is bound be at risk of health issues that aren’t a problem when it comes to batteries. Most battery generators are lithium- based, in keeping with the dominant trend in the technology globally. But batteries’ chemistry is developing at a rapid pace. Sodium batteries, like Anton Bauer’s new Salt-E Dog, leave behind the problems of lithium mining for plentiful, easily accessible sodium, and also have
FUEL’S ERRAND HVO presents a promising interim solution for reducing emissions in diesel-powered vehicles and equipment
and TV shoots makes sustainability a challenging thing to manage, but it also means there are many points of access for sustainable practice. HOW TO DUMP DIESEL TODAY The Flint ’s monthly webinar series, The Flint Forum, recently held a live panel discussion called ‘How to dump diesel: Preparing for zero emissions production’. The session brought together production power experts to brainstorm how projects can cut their emissions fast. Guests were Adam Baker of zero- emissions battery company Green Voltage; Andrew Hutton of production battery mainstay Anton Bauer; Carly Hardy of location services provider Location One; and Rohan Mitchell of OB company EMG/Gravity Media. The technology to do a fully zero- carbon emissions production is available right now. That much was made clear. The barrier to removing carbon from all production power is budgetary – and the willingness to accept that sustainability is now the cost of doing business hasn’t quite sunk in where it needs to. Any decarbonisation initiative on a production is a good thing. Literally every molecule of CO2 prevented from going into the atmosphere is a fraction of a degree in temperature that you’ve saved the planet from. There are many uncertainties when it comes to sustainability, but the science has been clear on this since about 1896. CO2 in the air goes towards making the Earth permanently (as far as humans are concerned) warmer. We need to minimise such emissions at all costs. HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) is a stop-gap fuel which can immediately replace diesel. Any diesel-powered generator, truck or submarine can start using HVO straight away. HVO still generates energy through internal combustion, but the CO2 emissions produced are substantially lower – in some cases by up to 90% – than fossil fuel-based diesel. Outside broadcast specialist EMG was an early adopter
of HVO, setting up its own 20,000-litre fuel bowser in 2021 to power its fleet of OB vehicles. “A mindset change comes with it,” EMG’s Rohan Mitchell explained in The Flint Forum. “We used to say, ‘don’t bring the truck back empty because it needs to go out and do another job’. Now we say, ‘please bring it back empty so we can fill it with HVO’. That’s a very simple thing we THE BARRIER TO removing carbon FROM ALL PRODUCTION POWER is budgetary ”
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