Super Bowl 2024 is setting the stage not only for a showdown between prime NFL groups, but in addition for a significant environmental milestone. This 12 months, the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will host a Tremendous Bowl powered fully by renewable energy — a primary within the historical past of the occasion.
The seemingly desolate space of the Nevada desert is the supply of the inexperienced vitality used to energy the sport.
An enormous solar farm with over 621,000 panels shimmers like a mirage however with the potential to energy near 60,000 residential clients — or one very large stadium.
The Las Vegas Raiders, which name Allegiant Stadium house, have entered right into a 25-year settlement to purchase energy from this new photo voltaic set up owned by NV Power.
CEO Doug Cannon stated that the photo voltaic set up would provide greater than 10 megawatts of energy for the Tremendous Bowl. This quantity of vitality is roughly equal to the consumption of 46,000 houses.
Sustainability was entrance of thoughts because the stadium was being constructed, in line with Raiders President Sandra Douglass Morgan.
The stadium’s roof is made from a sustainable plastic materials that permits in about 10% of daylight however blocks all photo voltaic warmth, so it takes much less vitality to chill the constructing. The grass area is moved outdoor on a rail system to get pure daylight moderately than utilizing energy-intensive rising lights. And the whole lot from grass clippings to meals scraps and cigarette butts are composted or transformed into different types of vitality.
“Once you come to a recreation you might be fascinated about simply specializing in the sport however once they hear that and know that we’re being aware of our environmental footprint, hopefully that visitor will go away and have that very same mindset once they return house,” stated Morgan.
The Tremendous Bowl’s inexperienced vitality push was highlighted throughout a go to from U.S. Secretary of Power Jennifer Granholm, who inspected the stadium’s most important electrical entry room.
“Individuals typically get nervous about renewable energy as a result of they are not positive if it’ll be dependable. The truth that renewable energy can energy a facility like this reliably ought to communicate volumes about what might occur in different communities,” Granholm stated.
The photo voltaic farm not solely powers the present wants but in addition homes large batteries to retailer renewable vitality, guaranteeing a five-hour energy provide even when the solar is not shining. This expertise is seen as a key element in transitioning the U.S. energy grid towards 100% clear electrical energy by 2035, a purpose set by President Biden.
Regardless of the deal with environmental sustainability, the Tremendous Bowl’s leisure, together with a halftime present featuring performer Usher, won’t be compromised.
“We have now sufficient energy for Usher and all of his lights and all of the fanfare that’ll be there,” stated Cannon.
Watch the Tremendous Bowl on your local CBS station, on Nickelodeon and streaming on Paramount+ on Sunday, Feb. 11.
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