Maria Grandinetti-Milton at the DP World Tour explains how to deploy hydrogen, solar and remote production to cut carbon across its transient golf season

 

With its manicured greens, sandy bunkers and well-maintained flora, golf should ooze with eco-credentials. But it often faces criticism for its land use and for trying to keep courses literally green with pesticides and heavy water use.

 

These elements are then multiplied when added to the professional sports arena. The European Tour for golf, currently sponsored by logistics firm DP World – thereby commonly known as the DP World Tour – sees golfers, spectators, media and supporting departments travel to 42 tournaments in 25 countries throughout the season.

 

This presents a particular set of decarbonisation challenges. Unlike fixed-stadium sports, a nomadic tournament relies on pop-up temporary infrastructure, intensive power supply networks and complex international transport schedules.

 

Addressing these operational realities requires clean energy innovation alongside precise supply chain management.

 

Decarbonising elite broadcast operations

Energy demand at tournament venues represents a significant proportion of emissions for the European Tour Group. Powering worldwide television broadcasts, event villages and temporary staging has traditionally depended on heavy diesel generator networks.

 

To break this reliance on fossil fuels, the European Tour Group introduced clean power alternatives directly into its core operations.

 

"We were the first event ever in 2023 to power TV production 100% by green hydrogen globally,” says Maria Grandinetti-Milton, Director of Sustainability at the European Tour Group.

 

“We've now done seven of those, including at the recent Genesis Scottish Open. We've also been innovating with hydrogen and solar to power other parts of the tournament sites."

 

Operational testing at major tournaments demonstrates the direct environmental benefits of replacing conventional generators with clean alternatives.

"The hydrogen power units at the Genesis Squash Open this year saved just over 16 tons of carbon compared to traditional diesel generators, which is around seven households' electricity spend for the year. So that has been a really big one for us," Maria says.

 

Integrating solar and temporary power

The implementation of hydrogen generators forms part of a wider hybrid energy strategy designed for temporary sports venues. At key events on the DP World Tour schedule, clean energy technologies are combined to meet fluctuating site loads.

 

European Tour 2025 Sustainability Achievements:

• 48% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions at HQ
• 99% of fuel used at Responsible Championships was HVO or blended low-carbon fuel
• 98% of tournament waste was diverted from landfill from nine Responsible Championships
• 8,500 trees planted since 2023
• 2,164 spectators educated on the importance of carbon emissions

 

At the Genesis Scottish Open earlier this year, along with the hydrogen generators, solar arrays were deployed to supply electricity to stages and merchandise venues. At the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, solar panels are integrated into the tournament village to provide shading while also generating power.

 

This hybrid approach extends to venue hospitality. At the Earth Lounge in Dubai, solar panels mounted on the roof supply primary power during the day. When daylight diminishes, fuel cells automatically take over the site load.

 

"We’re looking at what we need from an event perspective and layering in how that could be helpful to then also power areas of the village,” Maria explains.

 

“We have a sustainable hospitality lounge at the DP World Tour Champs called the Earth Lounge. That has had solar on the roof and then a hydrogen backup. So when the solar is depleted around 2pm — it's been brilliant having all this data to help us understand load and requirements — then that [the hydrogen] kicks in.

 

“And it's all made out of palm board. There's no full branding on it — it's all etched in. It's not your usual vinyl-branded hospitality," Maria says.

 

Overcoming global energy supply challenges

Deploying temporary hydrogen infrastructure across several countries involves significant technical and operational hurdles.

 

Fuel availability, fuel cell transportation and local market regulations vary between regions. In markets where green hydrogen is not yet commercially available or logistically viable, alternative low-carbon fuels fill the energy gap.

 

Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) is often used as a diesel replacement. In areas such as the Middle East, where hydrogen fuel distribution networks differ, alternatives can be sourced through regional partners depending on the local availability.

 

"We know that hydrogen’s expensive; it's not always available,” says Maria.

 

“The hydrogen cells from a transportation perspective have been challenging to get. It's not available in every market. But the interesting thing for us is actually using it as the big piece that interests people.

 

“We can't get everything everywhere. HVO fuel in the UK and the EU is very readily available. In the Middle East it's a little bit more complex. We have worked with other biofuels that are available.

 

“They don't have the same impact, but hydrogen isn't as readily available in the Middle East.

 

“It's really just working market by market with what's available, who our suppliers are connected with, what they want to trial and just being really collaborative with them.”

 

Managing multinational operational logistics

The DP World Tour operates across around 42 events in 25 countries every year. Delivering these elite sporting tournaments involves more than 2,500 suppliers.

 

Because installing permanent energy infrastructure at every temporary host venue is unfeasible — or unnecessary — procurement strategy relies on engaging local suppliers to minimise transit distances for heavy equipment.

 

“We know that hydrogen’s expensive… But the interesting thing for us is actually using it as the big piece that interests people.” ”

 

Maria Grandinetti-MiltonDirector of Sustainability, European Tour Group

Managing this network, the European Tour Group collaborates with DP World to streamline freight routing and move essential operational assets efficiently.

 

"There's a couple of markets where we have a supplier that might satisfy certain needs,” says Maria.

 

“Other times the schedule doesn't always allow for it and we need to have different suppliers. We really try to keep them as local to the tournament as possible, which obviously makes sense, especially when we're thinking about freight and hauling. We don't really want big bits of equipment being moved around," Maria explains.

 

This logistical complexity across borders also creates sustainability challenges and a major environmental footprint. Maria explains how the tour organisers restructured the annual schedule into regional clusters known as “global swings”. Grouping tournaments geographically cuts total flight distances for players, event staff and commercial partners.

 

“Since we introduced that, we've seen an 18% reduction in player travel across the schedule, which also then has knock-ons to what we do from a staff travel and procurement perspective in terms of bringing in those travel policies," Maria says.

 

Cutting transit through remote production

On top of the on-site alternative energy and route planning, technology also plays a central role in reducing international freight and personnel transit. Broadcast operations traditionally required shipping heavy equipment trucks and flying large technical crews to every tournament venue.

 

By establishing central broadcast facilities in London’s Stockley Park and standardising remote production models, the European Tour Group reduced its physical presence on the ground. Technical teams can now operate core broadcast infrastructure remotely from the UK.

 

"We had 11 remote productions in 2025 and each of those saves around 87 tons of carbon, which is big,” Maria says. “It's cumulative, isn't it? It adds up.

 

“I think that removed over two million miles of flights that would have been taken. So it's a significant impact when you tally it all up.”

 

DP World Tour operated 11 remote productions in 2025, saving around 87 tons of carbon

 

Measuring data across global markets

 

Tracking emissions and verifying environmental improvements across varied jurisdictions requires a consistent data collection framework. The European Tour Group tracks operational metrics across a core group of about 10 events to ensure data continuity across seasons.

 

At each tracked event, Maria’s sustainability team manually audits between 80 and 100 site suppliers. Data points covering power consumption, fuel use, waste recovery and transport movements are collected and measured against standard emission factors.

 

To assist local operational teams in applying these standards, the European Tour Group created a Sustainable Championship Charter. The framework outlines clear targets across waste management, water conservation and energy use without using overly complex technical information.

 

What is the Sustainable Championships Charter?

• The European Tour Group and the GEO Sustainable Golf Foundation created the Sustainable Championships Charter to bring sustainability into the planning and running of golf tournaments.
• The Charter provides a clear path for event partners to improve their sustainability credentials, covering four main areas: Staging, Legacies, Communications, and Measurement, ranging from basic actions to those seen as industry-leading.
• The Charter’s goal is to lower environmental and social impacts in key areas like energy, water, waste, procurement, transport, and community legacy. It follows the Sustainable Golf Framework to help set up standard data tracking for professional tours.

 

Within its first year, approximately 70% of tour events adopted the charter.

 

“One of the reasons we've had success has been to almost empower people on the ground who are making those operational decisions to work with their suppliers and understand what's achievable and whether that's financially achievable, whether it's operationally deliverable," Maria says.

 

“The primary focus is delivering a world-class championship event and a professional golf event. But then we can always think, ‘How do we do this sustainably?’

 

“And that's something that we've seen massive progress in over the last couple of years.

 

“Golf is actually further ahead than perhaps people realise in terms of being aware of their responsibility as custodians for land. There's so much pressure on them to think about water consumption, nature, biodiversity and habitat restoration.”

 

Source:  FCW Team