Circus goes green with environmentally friendly fuels
Fossett’s Circus unveiled plans yesterday to convert all of its machines to run on bio-fuel.
The oldest continuous touring circus in the world will use the “green” fuel in its fleet of 27 trucks, two giant electricity generators and its eight big top heating units in a move designed to help keep a greener show on the road.
The conversion will be done in phases over the circus’s winter break. The generators will be converted first along with ten trucks.
The rest of the fleet and the heaters will be converted by February of next year.
Under the move, the circus, which has been touring since 1888, has also drawn up a detailed waste management plan and said it will spread its new green message to its 145,000 annual audience.
Fossett’s spokesman Charles O’Brien said circuses were traditionally very dependent on fossil fuels.
“We run all our machines on diesel,” he said.
“Our annual fuel bill has been on the rise in recent years.
“And it has become increasingly difficult in recent years to find suitable spaces in the middle of towns for our machinery which, let’s face it, churns out fumes and smoke.
“People don’t want big heavy diesel-powered machines taking over their areas. This move to bio-fuel will eliminate that problem.
“And while this move won’t initially cut our fuel bill, all indications are that it will in the medium to long term reap benefits.”
Mr O’Brien said he believed the move by Fossett’s was a first.
The family hopes to start negotiations soon with a national rape seed oil distributor to secure its annual fuel requirements.
The circus’s bio-fuel plan follows almost two years of technical talks with Cork City Council.
They chose to get advice from the council due to their Cork roots and the council’s efforts on novel energy initiatives in recent years, including the conversion of 17 council vehicles to run on vegetable oil — the largest bio-fuel operated fleet in the country at the moment.
The council also provides green electricity to about 100 council electricity account holders using a small hydropower plant next to the Lifetime Lab on the Lee Road.
“It is particularly appropriate that the circus has chosen Cork for this initiative as the show business dynasty began in Mallow over 180 years ago,” Mr O’Brien said.
“This unique partnership is the first of its kind in Europe and Fossett’s will become the first national circus in the world to make such a commitment.”
Meanwhile, Fossett’s is due in Cork on September 7 for a two-week run — its longest ever outside Dublin.
The big top, which was traditionally based at Gilabbey Rock, will be located on the same site in the city’s docklands as the Live at the Marquee concert series.
