This Danish Musician Powered His Outdoor Concerts with Batteries and Wind

A warm August evening, Lukas Graham pulled up to his 15,000 person off- grid show at an old military base just outside Aalborg, towards the northern tip ofDenmark, with a new form of concert power in tow: electric truck batteries charged up with wind turbine energy

The big batteries were rolled in by us. The generators weren't needed. Graham said it felt good. Diesel is being burned backstage to power the lights and sound at outdoor concerts. Graham described the diesel generators as sounding like a big-ass car or truck on the road.

Graham spoke from the concert grounds and said that the smell of diesel burning was not present. The atmosphere changes completely.

Depending on the location and size of the festival, the climate impact can be different. The average outdoor concert releases 500 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is the same as driving 100 gas-powered cars in the U.S. for an entire year. The venue accounts for a third of a music tour's climate impact. The entertainment industry in the UK uses 100 million gallons of diesel every year according to a report by Hope Solutions and ZAP Concepts.

Musicians are looking for ways to reduce their footprint because of the climate impact of festivals. Fans can use low carbon transport to get to shows if they use a plant-based meal at the concession. Carbon offsets are a way of balancing out emissions released in one place by trapping the same amount elsewhere, which some have criticized as being unreliable and failing to incentivize actual emissions reductions. Graham tackled emissions at their source on his tour. He says he is trying to up it a bit.

The batteries used for his concerts are part of a partnership. The power is generated from an offshore wind farm. Depending on the venue, the carbon emissions from each one of Graham's concerts can be reduced by as much as 98.5%.

The electric truck batteries were packed in two containers. They were trucked into each of Graham's six concert venues on his tour with stops between shows. The shipping container batteries are still on their wheels and a panel at the back opens up to reveal a sleek interface with output sockets that look like generators.

"We have made an interface similar to what is used in these events, and we pointed it out to the crowd." No training is required to install it.

Since the team didn't bring any backup power, the company said the batteries worked "with ease." The stage would go dark if the batteries failed. A lot of people notice mistakes.

Diesel generators were used to power the festival grounds, something that both Graham and Vestas would like to change in the future. There are a lot of things that you don't have time to do when you're doing something like this. We are talking to thousands of people. A lot of toilets, a lot of fridges, a lot of hotdogs.

The universal language of music can help us solve the planetary problem.

Graham was born in Freetown Christiania, an eco-conscious community that was established in the 70s when artists took over an abandoned military base.

I was raised in a hippie community. He says they didn't have a toilet in the house until he was six. Some of the energy production facilities for the city are located at the back entrance. The power plant that burns garbage is in front of my parents' house. The first windmill parks were built in the 1990s. It is a stark contrast. The idea of wind or water moving a wheel is cool as a child. It doesn't get cooler with time

He is not the only one with his thoughts. Graham's label, Universal MusicDenmark, is in talks with two other companies about possibly giving this technology to other artists. "We don't know how we're going to proceed with all this interest that's coming our way." It has raised awareness, that's what I can tell you.

Graham hopes that the shipping container battery packs can be used next summer for outdoor shows, or that a set could be built in the U.S., where they could be brought to festivals like the South by Southwest festival.

Graham said that the batteries work well and that they charge quickly. There is no change in the way they work or the usage according to the software in them. That is pretty great.

The tour has been a success, but it is a drop in the bucket when it comes to emissions. He says that it is still small compared to Europe in the summer.

The company says it is in internal discussions about the next steps, though it is not planning to offer a commercial solution. The people are all in on trying to make society better. If there is a commercial incentive, our management would have a look at a strategy that points that way.

Graham said that several people told him he should make this into a business. I want to be the advocate for something that is better than what we had before.

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