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Record-breaking Danish international Thomas Delaney has launched an international campaign in which he wagers money that he can make football goals more environmentally friendly.
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The 33-year-old footballer owns and operates a football academy, TDSMS, and creates energy-efficient soccer pitches, lights and poles with his own infrastructure, keeping all the noise and carbon emissions out of the field.
The club has also set up a greenhouse for growing sustainably sourced ingredients such as tea, carrots and veg.
The TDSMS website has a graph of the global cost of greenhouse gas emissions from sport and illustrated by the incredible man who calls himself Thomas.
“Football is part of the game the world loves, but carbon emissions are still contributing heavily to global warming,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Dennis Delaney (@DennisDennis) CO2 emissions from sports football matches, such as watching the game and playing, @starbucks #carcarbon pic.twitter.com/Jj54ngmLKa
“By doing my little bit, I hope people notice that there’s a problem and that more and more people will do their bit to help the planet.”
He holds a unique role in world football and it could save the planet.
🇬🇧 Thomas Delaney (@DennisDennis) I hold a unique role in world football. I bet that I can make footballs. 🎉 (and LED goals too) pic.twitter.com/xksVg1YT0R
Footage of his soccer skills is plentiful but the videos of his solar turf are undoubtedly some of the most mesmerising.
The field at the TDSMS academy is the latest installation in its growing solar field, although the facility still uses some electricity to operate its WiFi, CCTV and ventilation systems.
“As an academy the main objective is to provide sports education and learn from each other as they grow as individuals,” the club’s website says.
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“TDSMS is proud to be running in an environmental-friendly fashion by, among other things, producing high-quality sustainable-sourced food, ensuring our facilities are secure, and switching to renewable power.”
For people interested in joining the do-gooder club, he has an ambitious new goal.
“There are 23 million kids in the US who don’t have access to healthy food,” he says. “I’m hoping to get half the grass pitches in the US to be solar.”