Live Earth Concerts: a little hypocritical, but a hope for the future of LED lighting

[Razzy]

I was reading up on the news today, and I stumbled across an article about the Live Earth concerts. At first thought, I believed that what their points that they were trying to get across would seem hypocritical, due to the amount of energy that it requires to put on a huge concert.

So I decided to do some research on their website, this is from their green policy about the performances:

All electricity that powers the shows will be from renewable sources, either through utility supplied renewable energy, biodiesel generators, or renewable energy credits.

Concessionaires will be encouraged to use and directed to suppliers of agricultural/ biodegradable plastics (i.e. made from corn). Also, concessionaire waste will be minimized through a comprehensive recycling and reuse system organized at the venue.

Venue offices, walkways, etc will be optimized to use as little electricity as possible.

The entire production design will follow sustainable light design principles. Production lighting will include the use of LED light bulbs, signage will be produced from recycled or agricultural materials, and some tickets will be integrated with public transportation access and green messaging.

Live Earth staff and artist air travel will be offset through carbon credits.
Ground travel will be hybrid or high-efficiency vehicles, where possible.

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Heres the link to the whole green policy http://www.liveearth.org/green_policy.php

Even though they are doing all these things, I still find what they are doing hypocritical. They will "Production lighting will include the use of LED light bulbs" , so there's a chance that they will only use the LED's for their screens, and possibly their cyc lights. As well the energy that they are using could be used to power many other things.

As with their showing the concerts via tv/internet, will have people in their homes watching the performances, with their stereo system turned up to enjoy the music, and their a/c running to keep them cool.

But at the end of it, I guess it might be an advancement for lighting technology if the do a full LED lighting, and hopefully companies will start switching over to it before its too late.

Razzy

[Jezza]

Razzy-

-I hear your concerns and yes I agree as well that it is somewhat hypocritical. However, compared to how concerts and events are usually run, this is a good step forward and the a huge audience is going to recognize that whether it be onsite or on the TV at home. As much as it is about putting on a great show using the most eco-friendly techniques possible/practicle, its also about promoting awareness. Personally, I am ok with the trade off--a mediocre attempt at creating a "green" concert series for a huge amount of press and hype about saving the environment. To me it seems like a step in the right direction.

[Pie4Weebl]

Originally Posted by Razzy

As well the energy that they are using could be used to power many other things.

Ok I was kinda following what you were saying until you got to that point, that sentence right there is pretty retarded. I mean honestly, it seems alot like you took the flimsy argument of "money for war could be used for other things" and just transplanted electricity for money and concerts for war. And you say it as if there was some better cause the power could be going to, like feeding poor African children or something.

Originally Posted by Razzy

As with their showing the concerts via tv/internet, will have people in their homes watching the performances, with their stereo system turned up to enjoy the music, and their a/c running to keep them cool.

Because you know if this concert wasn't going on these people wouldn't be listening to loud music or using their ac? No. Lame excuse they would be doing the same thing just with a different form of entertainment, at least this entertainment brings up important ideas. Maybe after watching this show they will turn down their ac just a notch, while if they were watching die-hard it would have no impact on them

Originally Posted by Razzy

But at the end of it, I guess it might be an advancement for lighting technology if the do a full LED lighting, and hopefully companies will start switching over to it before its too late.
Razzy

Actually it won't at all, because thats not the point of it, because it doesn't matter less if they use led fixtures or not. This isn't some show to bring about the idea that concerts can be eco friendly, its to make others think about how they use electricity and its a great idea. Unlike concerts like Live 8 which do nothing but bring awareness this calls on people to change the way they act.

Also I really love the last sentence there, that they will change over "before its too late", like something horribly grim will happen to us if etc keeps releasing HPL based fixtures.

Oh and one fun fact for you. Live Earth is the first concert that will be using the new power hungry showgun fixtures.

[stantonsound]

If I may interject.....these concerts are intended to raise awareness (and probably money in one way or another) for one of the biggest things problems will effect our world in the next few decades. You know the old saying "It takes money to make money"....well..."It takes electricity to save electricity". The use of LED's, renewable fuels, biodiesel, etc... are simply a way of making people think that they are being environmentally responsible.

If they must use some electricity today to save several thousand tons of CO2 or other gas emissions next year, well.....it was a success. We really do not have any good alternative fuels. There is simply not enough farm land (or land, for that matter) to switch to biofuels, the gas/electric hybrids are unfortunately no more than a fad as to date, and we use more of our natural resources every day that are not being replaced. A few concerts are really not going to make this any worse.

We are not in a business that can afford, at this time, to be environmentally friendly. We can do things to avoid wasting too much, such as not powering up our dimmers until just before the show, limiting lighting during rehearsals (use some fluorescent shop lights instead of a full show during all be the necessary tech rehearsals), etc.... Think about it, we use more electricity in one night for a big show than I use to power my house for 6 months. 50+ 750 watt lamps burning for 3-4 hours a night, plus air conditioning the space is not environmentally friendly, especially if there are more empty seats than full.

LED's may be the future, but if the governments of the world ever do something about this potential crisis, it will be interesting to see if they allow unlimited power for entertainment purposes.

[SAWYeR]

Originally Posted by Pie4Weebl

Oh and one fun fact for you. Live Earth is the first concert that will be using the new power hungry showgun fixtures.

Ha. Those things are beasts, and somewhat pointless.