ACL goes green with sustainable stage

Austin City Limits Music Festival's IHG Hotels & Resorts stage will be powered entirely by a hybrid battery system, festival organizers announced Monday.

Why it matters: Music festivals are typically powered by diesel generators, but a growing number of festivals are rethinking how the events are run to reduce emissions.

How it works: Reverb's system will power all audio, lighting, video and stage production at the IHG stage from a battery system.

• The hybrid stage will minimize the run time of the biodiesel generators.
• The giant shade tents at ACL Eats, the west entrance of the festival and some backstage areas will also be powered on a hybrid battery system.

Zoom out: A similar system powered the main stage of Lollapalooza this year, and California's Mill Valley Music Festival became the first U.S. festival to be powered by 100% renewable energy through the use of batteries, Billboard reported .

What they're saying: "Following this year's highly successful and history-making battery-powered main stage at Lollapalooza, we are excited to bring this sustainable solution to Austin City Limits Music Festival," said Jake Perry, director of operations and sustainability at C3 Presents.

• "We have set a goal to build a more sustainable future for music festivals, which involves implementing solutions that make our operations more energy efficient and reinventing how we look at power."

Reality check: Festivals like ACL involve thousands of people — spectators, musicians, music techs — logging many carbon-intensive miles to listen to or put on music.

What's next: See the stage in action when the first weekend of ACL kicks off Friday.

• Performances at the IHG Stage , which is located in the southeast corner of the park, include Fletcher, Vince Staples and Qveen Herby and Jeezy.