Environmentally friendly Oktoberfest

Organisers of Oktoberfest, which takes place during September and October every year, have announced that this year's festival will be powered solely by renewable energy. This means Oktoberfest will be at the forefront of events powered by environmentally friendly means.

The statement by the Mayor of Munich, Hep Monatzeder (member of the Green party) was announced in Munich on Monday. Oktoberfest has been using green energy since 2000, however, 2012 will be the first year that the festival will be entirely reliant on renewable energy sources. Since 2000 green energy has been used to power the open areas, the streets and the public toilets. This year the food stands and catering facilities will also be supplied with power from environmentally friendly sources, according to Monatzeder.

The energy requirements for such an event are enormous and all tents, fair rides, exhibitions, stalls and the lighting for the entire festival will need to be provided for. The Münchner Stadtwerke calculates that the total amount of electricity needed to power an event such as Oktoberfest comes to around 3 million kilowatt hours. This is the equivalent of an annual electricity consumption of 1,200 households. The required peak power is comparable to that of a small town of about 21,000 inhabitants.