Every nation has its sport which its people follow religiously. And this is true for any nation all around the world. With so many people devotedly watching sports on TV and live in the sporting arenas. There’s just so much that is continuously going on in the background to keep these running, that it is hard to believe that people barely know about the intensity of the consequences. And this fact cannot be negated by any sport irrespective of its nation. And that is our focus. The tremendous scale of efforts put into these sports and the impacts they are causing which is not seen by the fans on Live TV.
World’s Most Popular Sport: FOOTBALL!!!
Kicking off with by far the most popular sport in the World, Soccer. Here is a statistic to make your jaw drop. Did you know that out of the 7 Billion Population in the world, 3.572 Billion, that is half of the entire world irrespective of its time zones, had tuned in for the Football World Cup Final in 2018. Do you know that the grounds that these players play in, soccer fields, take about 100,000 Litres of water every single day to just keep these grounds ideal for playing? No one said about that. This number is just for watering the grounds to keep them ideal, that is for playing days, there are days that games are not played but still, the grounds have to be watered and maintained. No one said about that too.
India and IPL
The most popular sport in India is no exception. IPL is the very event every cricket fan in India is waiting for. From April to May end. Like soccer, cricket is also a water-consuming sport. A single cricket pitch consumes about 60,000 L of water daily. With 8 Stadiums all over India and IPL happening for about two months, the water usage is just too huge to be ignored. And neither can the power usage be. Most of IPL happens in the evenings and at any given point of time, the floodlights which stand tall around the grounds, consume about 1800 Kilowatt of power. The Chinnaswamy cricket stadium in Bangalore spends about 1 to 1.2 crore Rupees only on electricity bills for using about 1,800,000 Units of power annually. Steps are being taken., and the new initiative is to introduce solar power and bring down the units to 600,000. And IPL since 2018 has stopped using Potable water. But is it too late?
Motorsports and 2030 Target
Motorsports are a great attraction, aren’t they? High-speed vehicles, close finishes. Even more closer to alarming levels is their carbon emission. A staggering 147 Million pounds of Carbon dioxide. That is what it takes for Formula one to take care of Travel and Logistics and of course the racing. And all of this is just in one year. Formula one can try but they still are one among the highest contributors. But is there any positive news regarding this?
Yes, F1 has started to take steps towards leaving a lesser carbon footprint. In 2014, they introduced a powertrain which was 50% thermally efficient. Something highly anticipated is the two goals they have identified. This includes having sustainable Grands Prix by 2025 and secondly and most importantly becoming carbon neutral by 2030. This shift towards saying green has not only been restricted to the cars on the racetracks but have also been implemented with 100% renewable-powered offices and being ultra-efficient in travel and logistics as well.
Is Sustainable Sports Possible?
I firmly believe in the need for sports for the people. It is what takes us away from our work and the enthusiasm is just too exhilarating to let go of. The two months of IPL and supporting your team through to victory can’t be any sweeter. But we do have responsibilities and mine doesn’t end with writing this article. Being an advocate of sports is a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing should ever die. We need sports but we have to work towards making it as eco-friendly as possible. While also enjoying every goal being scored by our favorite team, every ounce of water poured into the ground should bother us in the back of our heads. The need for speed is essential, but we have to make sure it is done responsibly.
Author: Vishnu Kumar VH
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