Renewable Energy And What Football Fans Can Do To Help
Going along to support your team can be a costly and painful experience. I feel as though I need a boost of renewable energy myself sometimes being a Preston North End! But the average football fan probably does not know that they are doing a lot of damage themselves.
At Cardiff University, Dr. Andrea Collins researches the environmental impact of sporting events, amongst them the 2004 FA Cup final between Millwall and Manchester United. That day, the average fan left a carbon footprint seven times greater than the average UK resident. "At sporting events you have time-concentrated consumption," Collins told BBC Sport. "Fans travel huge distances, consume huge amounts of food and create a large volume of waste." The biggest factor is match-day travel. The 73,000 fans who went to the Millennium Stadium travelled an estimated 43 million kilometres, with 47% of that distance covered by car. "If car travel switched to public transport the impact could be reduced by 24%," said Collins. "One simple solution would be to include the price of a train or bus ticket in the match ticket." James has already put that idea to the Football Association, who are "thinking about it". Collins added: "There are still environmental consequences outside of the stadium, such as waste and pollution, that aren't being addressed. "The organisers, the hosts and the spectators all have a responsibility. Sport is a very good vehicle to help communicate the link between sport and the environment - but more needs to be done." Useful resources Click on solar photovoltaic energy for information on solar for electricity. Click on diy solar heating for information on solar water heating. To return to our renewable energy page. To return to our solar energy home page.
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