THIS WEEKEND’S T in the Park music extravaganza will be the only “carbon neutral” festival in Europe and the biggest in the world.

Seeing some of the best bands on the globe may be the main draw but green issues will be very much to the fore as up to 80,000 revellers a day descend on Kinross-shire.

Festival organisers have worked closely with energy companies to measure the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced during the event.

CO2 is the main greenhouse gas contributing to climate change and they have looked at ways to reduce emissions before offsetting any excess to ensure the festival’s “carbon footprint” registers zero—thus making the flagship event officially carbon neutral.

T in the Park’s CO2 emissions will be offset through projects which form a mix of sustainable forest, solar and technology initiatives across the world.

A methane capture project in Germany and Myndd-Y-Garnedd in Wales will be the principal benefactors.

The former is located in the Rhine and Ruhr valleys, a region with a history of coal mining.

Many of the mines have been closed but methane—21 times more environmentally damaging than carbon dioxide—still escapes.

There is no financial incentive to stop this happening so carbon finance of the kind provided by T in the Park is vital.

The project will capture methane that would otherwise escape from three mines and use it to generate electricity and heat.

By burning the methane, its climate impact is reduced and dependence on fossil fuels normally used for energy generation is dramatically reduced.

Myndd-Y-Garnedd in Snowdonia works to reforest areas of natural woodland with local indigenous species that not only absorb CO2 emissions as they grow but also encourage and protect biodiversity.

All of the CO2 emissions created at T in the Park can be attributed directly to three central elements surrounding the infrastructure of the festival.

The crowd and artists’ methods of travel to the festival accounts for 73% of the CO2 emissions.

A further 20% can be attributed to the set up of the festival.

Finally, 7% of the CO2 emissions are attributed to waste that goes unrecycled.

Festival director Geoff Ellis is keen to make the event as green as possible.

“It is really important for T in the Park to take these responsible steps to ensure that not only this generation get to enjoy the festival and its beautiful surroundings but that future generations do too,” he said.

“Hopefully, the T in the Park audience will appreciate what we are doing and they will work with us to ensure that 2007 is an even greener T.”