A new report publiished in September 2024 on Decarbonising Supplier Transport and Mobile Power for London’s Film and Television Industry
A carbon footprint analysis of London’s film and TV suppliers’ transport and mobile power fleets, and a plan for its successful shift to low-carbon technologies.
The film and television (TV) industry has an environmental footprint1 – a
contribution to the climate crisis that scientists are, with consensus,
warning us is on the verge of multiple tipping points with dangerous
consequences for human and planetary well-being. This is particularly
pronounced in global production hubs in high income and heavily
industrialised contexts.
In London, one of the world’s largest production hubs, home to studios
and production companies of all sizes, reducing this impact is now
becoming a key priority. Within this, the burning of fossil fuels for
transport and power is the single greatest contributor to greenhouse
gas emissions from London’s film and TV industry2.
The responsibility for burning these fuels is shared between
commissioners, production companies and suppliers. The responsibility
for a green transition is likewise shared, urgent, and possible. The
Fuel Project is committed to the decarbonisation of the London
production sector by stopping the burning of fossil fuels for road
transport and mobile power. To this end, the study utilised the Avoid-
Improve-Shift framework from the project’s first report (2022), which
summarised three processes the industry can utilise in tandem:
- Avoid activities that burn fuel and emit greenhouse gases
- Improve practices that support energy efficiency of the fleet
- Shift to technologies that offer a low-carbon alternative
Phase II of The Fuel Project, culminating in this report, takes an indepth
look at decarbonisation via the Shift part of this framework.
Three key decarbonisation technologies for suppliers are considered
for this: batteries, hydrogen and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). This
report explores how these technologies can reshape transport and
mobile power fleets, both immediately and over the next decade, and
the potential contribution this would make to mitigating the sector’s
footprint. The goal is to support the decarbonisation of assets owned
by film and TV specific suppliers, rather than looking at all assets that
are operating on productions.
