The electricity for the ESC shows is generated from HVO

• The TV production for the ESC stage shows consumes a lot of electricity due to the many LED lights and loudspeakers.
• IWB uses diesel generators that are independent of the grid to ensure that the Basel electricity grid remains stable during the consumption peaks caused by the stage technology.
• According to IWB, renewable diesel is used as fuel. This is up to 90 per cent more environmentally friendly than fossil diesel. 

The self-sufficient power generation with the combustion engines is intended to prevent a power cut during rehearsals and the main shows. This would mean that the television signal would be lost and viewers - last year there were over 160 million in total during the semi-finals and finals - would sit in front of a dark screen.

HVO diesel is what is known as "Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils", i.e. hydrogenated vegetable oils. As Martin Joss, Managing Director of the Biofuels Switzerland association, explains, these are mostly produced on the basis of used cooking oils, and to a lesser extent from animal fats and waste from the wood industry. Joss: "In Switzerland, no products that compete with food or animal feed may be used by law." 

The vegetable oils would be converted into hydrocarbons through a reaction with hydrogen, known as hydrogenation. Conventional fuels such as petrol or diesel also consist of hydrocarbon compounds. The hydrogenation process would adapt the properties of the vegetable oils to fossil fuels, especially conventional diesel oils. Joss: "This means that HVO can completely replace conventional diesel." 

The life cycle assessment and CO₂-emissions of HVO are up to 90 per cent better than those of fossil diesel, according to Joss. "HVO is currently being imported into Switzerland, and a production plant is planned in Valais."

Joss welcomes the fact that the electricity for major events such as the ESC is produced from HVO100. "This shows that fossil diesel is not necessarily needed. After all, there are still objects such as emergency power generators or heating systems that cannot be converted to renewable electricity by hook or by crook for ideological reasons."

SRG media spokesperson Edi Estermann explains on enquiry that "sustainability" is "in focus" for the ESC. The shows in Basel are the first "SRG SSR live production" to be allowed to carry the so-called "Green Motion Label" for sustainability. This has also been approved by the auditing company Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

It is not yet clear how much HVO100 the IWB will burn during the ESC.

The news article is based on the article at Prime News: The electricity for the ESC shows is generated from biodiesel - Prime News