I had a meeting today with a pleasant chap from the BBC called Richard Smith. Richard is tasked with reducing the BBC’s carbon footprint and is working with production teams and BAFTA to reduce the impact of programme making on the environment.
Richard asked me to provide some statistics on our Remote Contribution Terminals (RCT) and how they have already helped BBC programmes to reduce their carbon impact…
| ENERGY USAGE | Watts |
| Powered on but idle | 22 |
| Connected for radio | 26 |
| Connected for TV | 33 |
| Connected for TV + lighting | 53 |
Radio Interview (5 mins)
Let’s assume that the RCT would be powered up for half-an-hour and connected for 15 minutes. The total energy used would be 0.012 kWh.
TV Interview (5 mins)
Here, the RCT may need to be powered up for nearer 45 minutes to allow for setup and connected for 15 minutes. The total energy used including lighting would be 0.025 kWh.
Radio Discussion (1 hour)
If the RCT was on for 90 minutes and connected for an hour, the total energy used would be 0.037 kWh.
Now, let’s convert that to carbon use…
| kWh | kgCO2e* | |
| Radio Interview (5 mins) | 0.012 | 0.00629 |
| TV Interview (5 mins) | 0.025 | 0.01311 |
| Radio Discussion (1 hour) | 0.037 | 0.01941 |
| Boil a kettle | 0.150 | 0.07869 |
*Based on figures published by Carbon Trust, 2011
Finally, we can compare the carbon use for the RCT to the amount used to travel to and from a studio. A 50 mile round trip in a car would use a whopping 17.065 kgCO2e*. That’s 2700 times more carbon for our 5 minute radio interview.
Some of our current contributors were regularly exceeding this 50 mile estimate prior to installation of our RCT. Add to that the additional miles required for a taxi to travel to and from the pickup/drop-off location and those for a meet & greet to attend the studio and we’re making big savings.
KEVIN
