I just wanted to take a moment to highlight the news that Fujifilm is taking steps to go green by using the methane emissions from a landfill nearby the company’s primary U.S. manufacturing plant in Greenwood, S.C, to provide up to 40 percent of its power, according to Fujifilm’s press release here and you can read more about Fujifilms’s Green Policy here.
According to the release:
By using the methane as energy Fujifilm is preventing methane emissions, which are more than twenty times more damaging to the ozone than carbon dioxide, from being released into the atmosphere from the landfill. The amount of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions avoided by this Fujifilm effort would be similar to that generated by 208,000 barrels of oil each year, or the equivalent of the emissions from more than 17,000 vehicles each year.
Speaking of filmmaking going green, last week at CineGear there was the company Nila, which manufacturers an “environmentally sustainable light,†stating that their lighting system
uses 50% to 75% less electricity and generates 75% less heat than tungsten or HMI lights. This substantially reduces air conditioning costs, as well as creating a more comfortable working environment on motion picture and television sets. Our system has an expected life span of twenty years without lamp replacement, eliminating the need for Federal and State regulated bulb recycling.
Now I think it is safe to say that a majority of the filmmaking community is in favor of protecting the environment and reducing greenhouse emissions, but I also have the suspicion that lots will still want the lights they’ve always used no matter the environmental concerns, after all this is their art and passion, not to mention livelihood. That is their choice as long as they realize the decision they are making. But it seems like it is at least worth giving the Nila lights a test drive and seeing how they perform.
As for Fujifilm it would take much more investigation to compare Fujifilm to Kodak to determine which one bleeds the most green. I guess one could make the case that digital is greener than any analog option but film, and tape for that matter, will be around for a long, long time to come.
Did you enjoy this article? Sign up to receive the StudioDaily Fix eletter containing the latest stories, including news, videos, interviews, reviews and more.