As far as universities go, UC San Diego is one of the calmer and more subdued schools when it comes to school spirit and extra curricular activities. The vast majority of the students are much more focused on their school work than the usual college partying. On one day each year, called
Sungod, that paradigm shifts completely. The Sungod Festival is a day of celebration for students, in which all responsibilities go out the window. Cla**** are skipped, and upcoming tests forgotten, for the sake of one day of school spirit, partying, and carefree fun. At the center of the hoopla is a woodstock-style, all day concert featuring top pop musicians and bands such as Third Eye Blind, Girl Talk, The Killers, Ludacris and more. This is, without a doubt, one of the best days to be a student at UC San Diego.
While this is a day of great fun, it is also a day of considerable energy waste. The concert itself, involving high wattage sound and lighting equipment that unnecessarily sucks up power from the grid. As we become more and more energy conscious as a society, it becomes increasingly clear that we shouldn't put a damper on a great day like sungod by not managing its carbon and energy footprint.
The first energy efficient and sustainable change I propose is installing a
piezoelectric dance floor, which will generate power from the attendees' steps. At an event where hundreds to thousands are dancing in the same place all at once, the energy needs of the entire festival would be accounted for, taking the festival off the grid. Because 7-10% of the energy we produce is lost just by travelling through the grid, creating an off the grid system will save even more power. Piezoelectricity is also a green solution, creating zero carbon emissions.
Piezoelectricity is a great start to making the Sungod Festival more energy efficient, but more can obviously be done. A huge amount of trash is generated from food and beverage sales on Sungod, which could be mitigated by using environmentally friendly food and drink containers. Any other ideas for making this event more energy friendly?
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