By April MacIntyre May 15, 2009, 20:46 GMT
FOX hit action-thriller "24" starring Kiefer Sutherland has taken eco-production to a new level.
05/12/2009 - Kiefer Sutherland - The show announced today that it reduced its season seven Carbon Footprint by 43% through greener efforts by all on the cast and crew. © Chris Hatcher / PR Photos
The show announced today that it reduced its season seven Carbon Footprint by 43% through greener efforts by all on the cast and crew.
The network also announced that the PSA Campaign kicks off Monday, March 2.
According to FOX, "nearly a year after announcing its aim to reduce its carbon footprint and inspire its viewers to do the same, '24,' the Emmy Award-winning series from Imagine and Twentieth Century Fox Television, has far exceeded its carbon-reduction goals and will be the first television production ever to achieve carbon neutrality."
“24” has also purchased high-quality carbon offsets to address its remaining unavoidable emissions.
The PSA's star four of the series’ regulars to bring greater public awareness of the climate change issue.
According to executive producer/showrunner Howard Gordon and Twentieth Century Fox Television Chairmen Dana Walden and Gary Newman, the series hopes to educate and inspire its millions of viewers around the world to personally engage in the fight against global warming.
The first PSA, starring Kiefer Sutherland, will air as part of the special two-hour broadcast of “24” Monday, March 2 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.
“This is a passion project for us at ’24,’ and we’re amazed by how much we were able to achieve this past season in terms of conserving energy and reducing carbon emissions,” commented Howard Gordon. “But now the really important work begins, which is to inspire our audience to make changes in their own lives.”
“We are so proud as a studio of Howard, Kiefer and everyone at ‘24,’” commented TCFTV Chairmen Newman and Walden. “They brought their trademark intensity and enthusiasm to the task of figuring out how to make the show more efficiently and with less impact on the environment, and they succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations. This show will serve as a model to all our productions and to the industry overall of how we can bring television production into the 21st century and reduce Hollywood’s carbon footprint. And it will keep the conversation going with our audiences around the world that global warming is a problem we all can do our part to solve.”
“We applaud the producers, the studio, the cast and the crew for taking the lead and becoming the first carbon neutral television production,” said Kevin Reilly, President, Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company, who is also a California Trustee of the Nature Conservancy and on the board of the Environmental Media Association. “The ‘24’ team sets the bar high for delivering quality television every week and now they have also set a standard of responsibility which hopefully will inspire others to follow. We are proud to air PSAs educating our viewers about climate change and hope that these spots will help raise awareness and encourage others to follow ‘24’’s lead."
What "24" has done so far:
Conducted a robust measurement of the greenhouse gas (GHG) impact of the production Season Seven of “24.” The team calculated that 2,179 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) were emitted during the production. Green power purchases reduced the footprint by 43% to 1,239 tons of CO2e.
“24” worked with Clear Carbon Consulting to perform an in-depth analysis of the emissions created from producing a television series. The team favored an inclusive approach, collecting data for electricity, onsite fuel, vehicle and special effects fuel, shipping and air travel.
The methodology used to analyze the carbon footprint of the production of “24” was based on the World Resources Institute’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the internationally accepted GHG accounting tool. See http://gei.newscorp.com/ for more detailed information.
Made on-set improvements including replacing incandescent lighting with compact fluorescent lighting wherever possible and encouraging production staff to turn off all electrical equipment when not in use.
Introduced the use of biodiesel-blended fuels to power generators and production vehicles.
Ran all on-stage production activities on “green power.”
All electricity purchased through the L.A. Department of Water and Power came from renewable power sources (including a mix of wind, hydro and solar) from outlying areas, thereby reducing overall emissions and pollution in greater Los Angeles.
By purchasing renewable energy, FOX was able to reduce the show’s overall carbon footprint by nearly 940 metric tons of carbon dioxide.
Integrated fuel-efficient and low-emission hybrid vehicles into the production fleet.
Switching to hybrid vehicles has helped avoid using more than 1,300 gallons of gasoline during Season Seven. To put this in perspective, 1,300 gallons of gas would be enough to drive a traditional mid-sized vehicle from L.A. to New York 10 times.
Distributed all scripts, schedules and production memoranda electronically, eliminating the need for thousands of pages of hard copies and hundreds of miles driven by delivery services.
Invested in high-quality carbon offsets to address the show’s unavoidable emissions and become carbon neutral.
The carbon offsets purchased have reduced the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere equivalent to “24”’s unavoidable emissions. These carbon offsets come from a portfolio of wind energy projects in India. The carbon reductions were verified by an independent third-party expert and certified under the Voluntary Carbon Standard, a standard developed by the Climate Group, the International Emissions Trading Association and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Through these methods and additional efforts that can be found at http://gei.newscorp.com/, “24” reduced its carbon emissions by an impressive 43%, far exceeding the goal to lower this season’s total footprint by that of a single episode.
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