Kansas City Chiefs fans were over the moon when their team won last night's Super Bowl in a thrilling game that went into overtime. But for climate activists, the real victory happened behind the scenes. For the first time ever, the NFL's biggest game of the year was played in a stadium powered by 100% renewable energy.
Super Bowl LVIII was played in Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium, which is home to the Las Vegas Raiders. In October 2023, the stadium announced that it had completely converted to renewable energy in partnership with NV Energy. All of the sustainable energy sources come from within Nevada and are used to power all of the stadium's events. According to a report by USA Today, part of that renewable energy comes from 621,000 solar panels installed in the Nevada desert.
The Super Bowl was certainly a high-wattage event, from the lights on the field that captured every pass that the Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes and the 49ers' Brock Purdy made to the enormous setup for Usher's half-time spectacle. Luckily, the solar panel array was more than capable of producing enough power for the big event.
According to NV Energy CEO Doug Cannon, the panels produce enough energy for 60,000 residences. In order for an event like the Super Bowl to run smoothly, the panels needed to produce 10 megawatts. That's enough power for 46,000 homes.
But electricity isn't the only way that Allegiant Stadium stays green. They also divert grass clippings to an onsite biomass machine for compost, divert cigarette waste from landfills and transform it into energy, and reuse, repurpose, or donate wastewater. And all that food that is generated by the stadium? They also have a program to collect food scraps that can be composted or turned into livestock feed.
All of this means that they are leading the charge in showing how we can continue to enjoy the entertainment we love while also lessening our impact on the planet.
Super Bowl LVIII was 100% powered by renewable energy thanks to an enormous solar array in the Nevada desert.
The #SuperBowl is a big moment for @NVEnergy, @AllegiantStadm, the @NFL and the environment. Excited to play a role in this #SuperBowl by helping power it with 100 percent renewable energy!
Full story at https://t.co/NNDfPXSa8V@EDF_Renewables pic.twitter.com/Z6LPi7GQ8W
— NV Energy (@NVEnergy) February 11, 2024
Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium converted to renewable energy in October 2023 and even has a large composting program on-site.
We're celebrating this Earth Day with our new onsite compost machine! This machine can process 650 pounds of food scraps, paper products, and field grass clippings, turning them into viable soil. ♻️
https://t.co/ZTtc6xiZRa#EarthDay pic.twitter.com/G4ejyagSnH
— Allegiant Stadium (@AllegiantStadm) April 22, 2023
h/t: [USA Today]
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