The latest data from BAFTA’s sustainability calculator shows that one hour of television production generates 9.2 metric tons of CO2 equivalent. The good news: This is a 10% reduction in carbon footprint since 2017.
The bad news? It would still take more than 900 trees a whole year to absorb that hour’s worth of entertainment. And that’s just to mitigate the environmental costs of production; it doesn’t include the impact of transmission or distribution. Clearly, broadcasters have a long way to go before becoming truly sustainable.
Luckily, virtual production may help. Throughout the pandemic, the technology has frequently been highlighted as a path to lower the industry’s carbon footprint. But are the sustainability benefits to virtual production genuine, or is “green VP” just another marketing buzzword?