Urban Acres | Climate & Sport Analytics | 24th April 2025
The high-octane IPL 2025 clash between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Mumbai Indians (MI) may have lit up the scoreboards and social media feeds, but beneath the entertainment lies an uncomfortable environmental truth: the carbon cost of a single match of cricket is quietly swelling.
According to sustainability research and industry benchmarks, each IPL match produces an estimated 10,000 to 14,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (tCO₂e) — a figure comparable to the daily emissions of a small urban Indian district.
Here’s a deep dive into where those emissions came from on the night of SRH vs MI:
How Much Emissions Did This One Match Generate?
Estimated Total: 11,200 to 13,400 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent
That’s the same as:
- Burning 5 million litres of petrol
- The monthly emissions of over 80,000 Indian households
- What you’d need 650,000 trees to absorb over the next 10 years
Let’s break it down.
- Stadium Power: The Bright Lights Burn Big
- Floodlights, giant LED screens, air conditioning in lounges — the stadium was glowing.
- Estimated power used: 3,000+ kilowatt hours
- Carbon cost: ~2,500 tonnes CO₂e
- Teams on the Move: Planes, Buses & Logistics
- Both teams fly between matches, often on chartered planes.
- Add in support staff, kits, logistics — the footprint grows fast.
- Carbon cost: ~1,200 tonnes CO₂e
- Fans in the Stands: 35,000 People, Thousands of Vehicles
- Most fans drove to the stadium — solo or in small groups.
- Emissions from private cars and taxis really add up.
- Carbon cost: ~4,000 tonnes CO₂e
- Streaming the Game: Digital Isn’t Always Clean
- Over 100 million people watched the match online.
- Data centres, server farms, mobile towers — they all use energy.
- Carbon cost: ~3,000 tonnes CO₂e
- Food & Waste: What We Eat and Leave Behind
- Stadiums generate 15–20 tonnes of waste per match — cups, wrappers, food leftovers.
- Most of it ends up in landfills or is incinerated.
- Carbon cost: ~500 tonnes CO₂e
And Then There’s Water…
- Preparing the pitch? Around 300,000 litres of water.
- That’s enough drinking water for 20,000 people for a day.
So What Can Be Done?
The IPL is a celebration — of sport, of India, of community. But it’s time to make it a celebration of sustainability too. Here’s how it can happen:
- Solar-powered stadiums (like Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy)
- Carpooling & metro discounts for fans
- Reusable cups and cutlery
- Carbon offsets for team travel
- League-wide Green Matches with impact reports
Final Scorecard: Cricket Wins, But the Planet Pays
We love our cricket. But we also love our mountains, rivers, clean air, and safe future.
It’s time to ask: Can IPL become the first carbon-conscious sports league in the world?
Because if India leads on the pitch, why not lead in climate action too?
Also Read – https://urbanacres.in/lsg-vs-dc-a-match-won-on-field-but-lost-on-carbon/
SRH vs MI: A Match of Boundaries and Burden — Breaking Down the Carbon Footprint
