In 2023 the Australian indie-pop band Lime Cordiale tested a pair of electric tour vans, driving from Sydney to a festival in the Hunter Valley via gigs in Wollongong and Canberra. With gear stacked high and a map dotted with charging stations, the band got a promising, if imperfect, glimpse of their touring future. “At each gig, we’d have to convince someone to let us plug the cars in,” recalls the band’s guitarist and vocalist, Oliver Leimbach. As it transpired, they ran out of charge en route to the festival and had to call for a lift.
Lime Cordiale are part of a growing number of Australian musicians who are recognising the climate cost of touring and finding ways to lessen their impact. While no definitive emissions audit exists for Australia’s music sector, a 2010 study found the UK music industry produced about 540,000 tonnes of greenhouse-gas emissions annually. It’s estimated that a typical two-week, 15-stop tour in Australia produces about 28 tonnes of carbon emissions – the equivalent of an average household’s yearly output.
