Cutting Film and TV Production Costs and Emissions through Energy Efficiency and Electrification
We Mean Business Coalition
Netflix has a three-step plan to optimize, electrify and decarbonize its energy use when making films and TV shows.
One of the world’s largest creators of films and TV shows, Netflix has a three-step plan for improving the way energy is used in its productions. By optimizing energy efficiency, electrifying energy sources and then decarbonizing them, the global entertainment company plans to cut emissions while modernizing productions. With some of the technologies needed for the entertainment sector’s clean energy transition still in their infancy, Netflix is working with industry partners to pilot and implement electrified solutions for both its studio and on-location filming around the world. The pilots are a key step towards scaling technologies that stand to yield significant wider economic and environmental benefits across the industry.
Context: Film and TV production traditionally relies on fossil fuels to power sets
The making of film and TV requires a reliable and substantial power supply. From large sets and powerful lighting to extensive catering for casts and crews, traditional production methods are often energy intensive and reliant on fossil fuel-derived power.
As the world’s largest standalone entertainment and streaming company by market capitalization – recently valued at over US $340 billion – Netflix knows more than most about the challenges of decarbonizing productions. In a typical year, its productions account for more than half of its Scope 1 and 2 emissions. But it is on a mission to slash them. In 2021, Netflix set an ambitious decarbonization target of roughly halving its emissions by 2030 from a 2019 baseline.
Problem: How to make film and TV production energy efficient and low carbon?
Netflix’s challenge is to keep making high production value content, while reducing energy use and emissions. Although the sheer size of its global film and TV production network makes modernization a complex endeavor, it also means that it is the ideal company to identify scalable solutions.
Three main sources account for the energy use and emissions from its original productions. First are the studios themselves. The heating, cooling and powering of their stages – alongside the sourcing, construction and disposal of set builds and props – heavily impact the company’s total footprint.
Away from a studio, a portable energy source is required to power trailers, dressing rooms, hair and makeup facilities, wardrobe units, cameras, lighting, equipment, and mobile production offices on location. Traditionally, this has been provided by diesel generators powered by fossil fuels.
Then comes travel. Falling under Scope 3 emissions, it includes flights for international location scouting, travel for casts and crews on location, and global press tours. Additionally, a single production can require dozens of cars, vans and trucks to move people, sets and equipment.
Solution: Implement a strategy of ‘optimize, electrify and decarbonize’
Netflix has created an ‘optimize, electrify and decarbonize’ (OED) framework that the company applies across its climate efforts worldwide.
Netflix’s Longcross Studios in Surrey, U.K., shows what this looks in practice. Originally an army tank testing facility, the site was converted to a film studio in 2006. Netflix secured a long-term lease in 2021 and has since heavily invested in upgrading the site, with the two local councils officially granting the studio facility permanent status in 2025. Situated 25 miles from central London, the 64-acre site operates as a premier hub for high-end film and television. It features over 105,000 square feet of sound stages; a 150-foot diameter ‘slip pad’ that is used to keep filming equipment secure; a 400-meter track for high-speed vehicle sequences; and an extensive number of workshops, production offices and dining facilities.
Netflix started site renovations with upgrades to energy efficiency. The company incorporated insulation and high-performance window glazing into all buildings and switched lighting to LEDs.
Then came electrification. Netflix negotiated additional access to the local electric grid – to eliminate the reliance on back-up diesel generators for the studio’s large power requirements. To further reduce fossil fuel usage and meet the fast-paced nature of productions, the company installed electric heating and cooling systems and fitted six ultra rapid (up to 300 kilowatt) and six rapid (up to 50 kilowatt) electric vehicle charging points. It also signed a multi-year agreement to source 100% renewable electricity for the studio, so that all this electrification is clean.
But these upgrades are not limited to Longcross Studios. Netflix is implementing the OED strategy across its production operations. To maximize energy efficiency and electrify production on location shoots, the entertainment business is increasingly using high-efficiency solar-powered trailers. Through improvements including heat pump HVAC systems, increased insulation, and efficient appliances and lighting, these trailers reduce electricity demand by up to five times that of their legacy counterparts. In 2025, over 45% of the productions that Netflix directly managed used such trailers.
The company also avoids the use of diesel generators for location shoots by linking up to the local electricity grid, which almost always results in lower emissions. However, this can be difficult to realize in practice. As a case in point, filming in the U.K. often takes place at stately homes that have aging and sensitive power supplies unsuitable for production requirements. Despite such challenges, grid tie-ins were still deployed across 80% of Netflix’s own productions in 2025.
If access to the local grid is not possible, the company seeks to pilot new alternatives to fossil-fuel-powered generators – like batteries and hydrogen power units. These modern, clean technologies offer distinct production advantages. For example, batteries can support filming in areas where diesel generators are not allowed or where it would be time- or cost-prohibitive to run cables. Batteries are also silent, enabling them to be placed closer to sets or even in the shot, saving time during set-up. Furthermore, neither batteries nor hydrogen generators emit the fumes that come from diesel generators, making film sets healthier for the cast and crew, as well as nearby communities.
By deploying battery and hydrogen power units, nearly a third of all Netflix productions cut more than half of their mobile generator fuel usage in 2025. In fact, the final season of fantasy series The Witcher, mostly filmed in the U.K., reduced UK generator fuel usage by almost 90%. By using a mix of hydrogen power units and batteries – alongside grid tie-ins and electric heat pumps – the upgraded production process eradicated the need for over 130,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Another recent Netflix drama, The Boroughs, shot in Albuquerque, New Mexico, reduced diesel generator fuel usage by over 75% – thanks to grid tie-ins, mobile batteries, solar trailers and solar battery systems.
To increase the availability of such clean mobile power solutions across all markets, Netflix is partnering on a variety of collective initiatives. For instance, in 2025, it co-signed BAFTA Albert’s industry statement of intent to accelerate sustainable screen production practices aligned to the SPARK: Clean Temporary Power by 2030 roadmap. The company also co-founded the Clean Mobile Power Initiative and supported the publication of Charting the Path to Clean-Powered Productions: A Decarbonization Roadmap for Film and TV.
Finally, Netflix is intent on electrifying its transport but is operating within current limitations. The company is actively encouraging its transportation vendors and production teams around the world to transition to electric vehicles. In 2025, all of Netflix’s directly managed scripted productions incorporated at least one low-carbon vehicle, and 85% used at least one all-electric vehicle. Furthermore, the company launched an EVs on Screen initiative to drive broader EV market adoption by featuring more clean vehicles in its films and shows.
Key takeaway: Netflix productions function as testbeds for wider clean tech innovation
By driving progress in clean tech and innovation, Netflix is a key player in the decarbonization of the film and TV industry. As a crucial component of the company’s strategy to make film and TV production more efficient and sustainable, it is piloting modern, electrified technologies that stand to bring economic and environmental benefits to the industry and the communities in which they film . Across the globe, Netflix is proving that such technologies not only perform well but provide distinct production advantages – charting the path towards more sustainable movies and series for all viewers.