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Air travel is the major culprit as the 2010 World Cup of Soccer racks up a carbon footprint twice that of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games.
June 15, 2010
Love the soccer, hate the CO2 emissions
Posted by Rob Klovance
What's dressed in red, yellow, green, blue, white, black and orange, sounds like the world's biggest beehive and, in one month, is expected to spew out 2.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions?
It's the 2010 FIFA World Cup of Soccer, which is not just the biggest and noisiest sporting event of the year, but also the sporting world's 2010 champion for GHG production.
How much is 2.7 million tonnes, the CO2 emissions estimate produced by the Feasibility
Study for a Carbon Neutral 2010 FIFA World Cup? About eight times the emissions of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and well over twice the emissions produced by the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games.
It's also 10 times the emissions estimated for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, even though the Vancouver number included all construction-related and other emissions from the day the city won the right to host the Winter Olympic Games back in 2003.
So, while even a soccer fan like me is thrilled by the 2010 World Cup – did you see those four goals scored by Germany in their opener against Australia? – I can't help but hand a cautionary yellow card to FIFA. While no one can blame soccer's governing body for taking the Big Event to Africa for the first time, it's clear that FIFA does not have global warming anywhere high on its list of concerns.
And the killer is... air travel
The biggest chunk of CO2 emissions at the World Cup comes from air travel, as South Africa's location means that the bulk of the estimated nine million visitors will arrive via jet. A whopping 65% of the GHG impacts at the World Cup are attributed to international travel.
Here's a staggering statistic from South Africa's Cape Argus newspaper: 2,000 planes will fly over South Africa every day for the whole of the 2010 World Cup.
Next up: inter-city travel and electricity
With the soccer tournament at nine far-flung locations across South Africa, there's a whole lot of travel going on within the country. Combined, inter-city travel and energy used in hotels and other accommodation adds up to 17% of the CO2 total.
South Africa is to dirty power what British Columbia, with our wealth of hydroelectricity, is to clean power. With coal deposits in abundance in South Africa, coal-fired plants not only supply 85% of the electricity in the country, the extraction of coal is considered vital to its economy.
The utility giant Eskom supplies 85% of South Africa's power, and 60% of all power in sub-Saharan Africa. One big challenge in South Africa is rural electrification, as only 55% of rural South Africans have access to electricity, compared to 88% of those living in urban areas.
Can the Cup be carbon neutral?
Not a chance. There's plenty of talk about using some green energy to power the Cup, but it's not likely to make dent in the event's carbon footprint.
In its feasibility study toward a Carbon Neutral World Cup, the Climate Neutral Network reported that Eskom would use some wind power and energy from biogas, as well as adding energy-efficient residential and street lighting in the Cup's nine host cities.
In addition, about half the 32 teams competing in the World Cup are involved in carbon offset schemes, but mainly to cover the impacts of their team's travel only.
Another reason to dislike the vuvuzela
The vilified noisemaker of World Cup 2010, the horn-like vuvuzela, is made of plastic. So eventually, hundreds of thousands of the things are going to end up in the landfill.
Too bad South Africa couldn't have expanded on the eco-friendly vuvezala option, one made by local artisans out of dried kelp and decorated in amazing colours. Not a practical option, but then again, the World Cup isn't exactly about practicality, is it?
The next World Cup is 2014 in Brazil, which is another long flight (or two or three) for millions of fans.
The good news? An impressive 85% of Brazil's electricity comes from hydroelectricity.
Rob Klovance is managing editor of bchydro.com.
Views expressed in Unplug This Blog! are not necessarily those of BC Hydro.
See also
Gold medal effort for BC Hydro in powering 2010 Winter Games
