"24" Goes Carbon Neutral

“24” has gone green and is the first “carbon neutral” television series. Fox hired consultants to measure the carbon-dioxide output from the production, started using 20 percent biodiesel fuel in trucks and generators, installed motion monitors in bathrooms and kitchens to make the lights more efficient and paid the higher fees that help California utilities buy wind and solar power.

The producers also bought carbon offsets, which make up for emissions of carbon dioxide, by paying other people to generate enough clean energy to compensate — in this case wind-power plants in India. The producers bought enough credits to offset 1,291 tons of carbon dioxide, just over a half-season’s worth of emissions. Rupert Murdoch, owner of FOX and News Corporation, intends to make his operations carbon neutral by 2010, and the network’s campaign, is part of that effort. (The NYT, 3/1/09)