Sustainability, PERG’s Continuing Coffee Break Series

| PERG News: July 2023 |

PERG recently posted two new Coffee Breaks on YouTube taking a deep dive into the state of the art of Battery Packs intended for set power. This is really a new product category, and we learned a ton from these two in-depth presentations. 

PERG Coffee Breaks on YouTube
Right-Sizing Generators with Valid Manufacturing (June 20, 2023)
The Future of Power with Anton/Bauer (June 27, 2023) []

Also check out:

Sustainability at Rental Companies (March 2023)

Given the size of the investment, the fluidity of battery technology, the uncertainty about whether line producers can be persuaded to share the sustainability ambitions of the higher-ups, rental companies have been watching and waiting from the sidelines mostly. PERG wanted to provide an opportunity for members to learn and ask questions because, as developments are now coming more quickly, PERG members want to stay informed. 

The conversation about sustainability is now turning to action. The carbon footprint of the video entertainment industry has ballooned to exceed even that of the airline industry, so says a white paper, Sustainability in Video Entertainment, released by InterDigital. In 2021 the Sustainable Production Alliance (whose members include all the major studios and streaming services) released a report that had been ten years in the making, Carbon Emissions of Film and Television Production (PDF). Its purpose was to “illuminate priorities moving forward, including a transition to clean, renewable energy solutions.” The report calculates the carbon footprint of various kinds of productions and looks at the key contributors to those emissions. Burning diesel fuel in generators and production vehicles was the single greatest source of emissions. For instance, of the total carbon emissions (CO2e) for feature films, 5611 metric tons of emissions per day, the percentages due to fuel consumption are between 47% and 56%.  In the past five years all the major stakeholders have created sustainability departments. In 2017, the Producers Guild of America released a call to action, setting a goal to reduce the overall carbon footprint of production by 50% by 2030. In addition, regulations in California banning the sales of small fuel generators after 2028 has added an additional motivation to come up with replacements for the smaller, Honda-type portable generators.

Carbon Emissions of Film and Television Production, Sustainable Production Alliance, 2021

As rental companies have been looking at the difficulty of reducing carbon emissions from portable generators, two challenges have emerged. Challenge number one is engineering a feasible system that accomplishes a reduction. Challenge number two is convincing line producers to increase the line item for power in their budget and for them to include fuel costs in that power budget, so that enough revenue can be generated to make this a reasonable investment for rental companies. The first challenge is being addressed by engineers at various manufacturers and we are now seeing products come to market. The second challenge will take a little longer, but with the PGA and companies like Amazon and Netflix getting serious about sustainability goals, it is clear that change is on the horizon. The cost of basic battery energy storage solutions (BESS) is currently around $1200 per kWh (about $120,000 for a 100-kWh unit). For more advanced battery chemistry solutions, the current cost can be four or five times more than a basic BESS system and can perhaps last quite a bit longer than them; however, as the newer technologies are widely adopted, it is likely that the capacity of batteries will increase substantially while the price remains the same.

This year at Cine Gear, we saw a variety of battery packs entering the market (please see links at the bottom of this article). As we are moving into uncharted waters, there are naturally lots of questions and a fair amount of skepticism. What is the right size for a battery pack? What about charge time? What source will be used to charge it? How does using a power storage device create any reduction in emissions? Is the battery technology stable or will it change in two years? What are the storage and safety concerns? Will we be trading one source of carbon emissions and environmental damage for another one or can we make meaningful improvements? Does this represent an opportunity for rental companies, or a risk?

We learned a lot if very valuable information in our recent Coffee Breaks with Valid Manufacturing on June 20 and Anton/Bauer on June 27.

Please check out PERG’s Sustainability webpage and presentations.

Battery Pack Manufacturers

Anton/Bauer, Salt-E Dog

Block Battery, Indy 5000 (PDF)

Valid Manufacturing, TPS Hybrid System   

Volstack           

CleanGen J250            

Powr2