What is a carbon calculator? Read on to find out!
The film and TV industry is one of the most energy intensive in the world, and with the number of programmes and amount of content continually increasing each year, this industry’s energy consumption and carbon footprint grows too. The growing number of streaming services means more content is being created. More and more TV series are also being produced, breaking up linear programme structures. This means that more energy is being used to create shows compared to 20 years ago. As a result, sustainability in this media industry is becoming an increasingly important and prominent issue.
In recent years sustainable filmmaking or otherwise known as green filming, has progressively become a focal point on some film sets and productions. Green filming is the concept of producing and creating films in the most resource efficient way possible, with the aim of reducing and offsetting carbon emissions. What this means is the main factors contributing to carbon dioxide or CO2 emissions have to be identified and then optimized. Every step in the entire production, from the writing of the script to the editing and post production, needs to be considered in order to make a film more environmentally friendly. Although the principal filming phase has the most established measures, there is also great potential for more environmentally friendly production overall, especially in preproduction.
The BAFTA established a project, which goes by the name of albert, to support environmental sustainability within the industry. It is a carbon calculator and certification toolkit which aims to help TV and film productions measure their carbon impact, as well as take active steps towards reducing it. It provides the necessary expertise and resources to incorporate sustainable practices into productions, and seeks to empower industry creatives to make editorial content that supports a vision for a sustainable future.
The albert toolkit comprises of a carbon calculator and Carbon Action Plan. While the calculator allows a production to work out their carbon footprint, which enables them to see the impact of their production, the Carbon Action Plan is designed for productions who not only want to measure their carbon footprint, but actively take steps towards reducing it.
The carbon calculator allows productions to quickly understand their environmental impact by providing basic information about the production office, studio, travel, accommodation locations, used materials disposal and post production. Albert have also introduced the idea of a sustainable production certification. This can be achieved by completing a Carbon Action Plan, which then allows productions use of the albert logo which can be displayed on the end board in a film. The certification logo is almost like a badge of honour for productions and is a great way to recognise the efforts they’ve gone to, to reduce their environmental impact.
However, in order to complete the Carbon Action Plan, it is compulsory for a production to fully offset all of its emissions. The kind of sustainable practices albert encourages on set include eliminating single use plastics, reducing travel between locations and implementing smart waste management solutions.
The albert project and the Carbon Action Plan are examples of what the industry is doing to help the climate crisis, and are great ways to keep track of a production sets carbon footprints and encouraging these companies to become more sustainable.