Will the recent North Holland oil and gas ad campaign become the next tobacco ban? That is the question asked by one of the articles linked to in this week’s edition of the Sustainable Motorsport Roundup. You will also find about Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya’s unwavering sustainability commitment, sustainable fuel developments and a look at next year’s new Formula E race car. All this and much more sustainable high performance motorsport news.
Sustainable Motorsport News
While the future of Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya’s position on the Formula 1 calendar is uncertain, thanks to the sport’s 10-year agreement with a new race in Madrid, its commitment to improving its stance on environmental sustainability is unwavering.
It is no surprise then, that the 2.9-mile track was featured in the top three of the recently published Sustainable Circuits Index, alongside Silverstone (host of the British Grand Prix) and Italy’s Mugello Circuit. Read why over at Global Sustainable Sport.
As Formula 1 drives forward with its Net Zero by 2030 goal, it has announced a multi-year partnership with Aggreko, a world-leading provider of temporary power solutions, to deliver innovative low-carbon energy generation systems at all European Grands Prix from the 2025 season. As part of the deal, Aggreko will become an Official Provider of F1.
Aggreko and Formula 1 have been working on this system together since 2023 when they first piloted a centralised power generation compound at the Austrian Grand Prix, which reduced associated carbon emissions by >90% within the Paddock, Pit Lane, and broadcast areas compared to the 2022 event.
The compound is powered by renewable sources such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), biofuel, solar panels, and battery storage systems. After returning to the Red Bull Ring earlier this season, the system was trialled again at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2024 and is also in place this weekend in Monza. This expanded trial has consistently delivered carbon reductions and from 2025, the system will be used across the European Grand Prix season.
The expansion to all European races in 2025 means that stakeholders, including Formula 1, F1 Teams, and the FIA, are not required to use or bring their own generators as enough power is produced through the centralized system to supply all garages and motor-homes across the weekend. In addition, the system will also power the Pit Wall, the Timing Room, the Formula 1 Event Technical Centre (ETC) where the at-track broadcast operations are housed, and the International TV Compound, where all F1 host broadcasters operate from at event. It significantly reduces the number of individual generators on-site in these operational areas and therefore will reduce the associated emissions from transportation to site.
In the backdrop of Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix, where oil and gas sponsorships dominate, a different story unfolds just miles away in Haarlem, where fossil fuel advertising is illegal. The article How a North Holland Oil and Gas Advertising Agenda Threatens to Become Formula 1’s New Tobacco Ban delves into the contrast between Formula 1’s deep ties with Big Oil and the growing movement across Dutch cities and beyond to ban fossil fuel promotion. As the world grapples with climate change, the tension between tradition and progress in motorsports raises critical questions about the future of advertising and environmental responsibility.
Read the full article on Formula Flash here.
Next week’s Greentech Festival Live taking place in London features what should be a fascinating session titled Sustainable Motor Sports – A Race We Cannot Afford to Lose!
At our GTF Connect event in London next week, three visionary Oxford University students – Aanchal Saxena, Auriane Flottes de Pouzols, and Pantelis Papageorgiou – will present their innovative solutions to reduce motorsport’s carbon footprint. 🚀
This initiative, part of a unique partnership between Nico Rosberg’s Rosberg Philanthropies and The Oxford SDG Impact Lab, bridges academia and industry to advance sustainability.
Their insights will be shared with an expert panel featuring Nico Rosberg, Julia Pallé (Sustainability Director at Formula E), Sara Mariani (Sustainability and Diversity & Inclusion Director, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) and Roger Atkins (Founder of Electric Vehicles Outlook Ltd).
Don’t miss this chance to see the future of sustainable motorsport in action! #gtfconnectlondon
More information on the event can be found here.
Sustainable Motorsport Tech
Former Williams chief technical officer Paddy Lowe, who recently rejoined the F1 paddock through a sponsorship deal with Sauber, founded Zero Petroleum, a carbon-neutral synthetic fuel company, in 2020, and he revealed to the James Allen on the F1 Podcast that this possibility had entered his thinking when creating the company.
“I’ve seen that idea for very long time, actually, and there’s an element of that in the formation of our company Zero, that type of vision,” he said. “But whether it’s Formula 1 or some other platform, I think we will see that coming through.”
Listen to the full podcast here.
American renewable chemicals and biofuels company Gevo has entered a purchase agreement with Shell Global Solutions (Deutschland) to supply low-carbon intensity fuel blendstock for use in motorsport. This renewable blendstock, developed by Gevo, is designed to meet the demands of high-performance racing while also providing lower carbon emissions.
Gevo’s renewable fuel blendstock is engineered to enhance net energy storage and reduce carbon emissions, making it suitable for premium motorsport fuels. This agreement underscores the potential for sustainability in motorsport without compromising on performance. Read all the details at here.
The New Formula E Car Might Be F1 Fast (Driver61)
Green Car Reports that the NASCAR EV Prototype features bodywork from Swiss firm Bcomp that incorporates flax, which Bcomp claims is a sustainable alternative to the carbon fiber used throughout motorsports today, with an overall carbon footprint 85% smaller with a similar level of stiffness.
That stiffness is thanks in part to an inner structure inspired by the vein structure of leaves, Bcomp said in a blog post. The flax fibers used in this material—which takes the form of a fabric that can be layered and molded into shape like carbon fiber or fiberglass—is grown in Europe without competing with food crops, according to the company’s website. Read more at Green Car Reports here.
Amongst the features in the September 2024 issue of Race Tech Magazine are the following:
- YES, IT’S AN EV NASCAR! How NASCAR took its first tentative step on the road to electrification – and the explosive reaction it prompted from one all-time great!
- INDYCAR’S HYBRID REVOLUTION: After almost five years and 33,000 miles of testing, IndyCar’s supercapacitor-based hybrid dream is now a reality. David Salters, president of Honda Racing Corporation (HRC US), tells Chris Pickering how the mission was accomplished
- WHERE NEXT FOR BATTERY TECH? With the next generation cars carrying both Formula 1 and Formula E into uncharted territory, where is motorsport battery technology heading? Chris Pickering talks to two experts in cell characterisation and simulation
- GREEN TECH: Dr Cristiana Pace Meet one of the key players behind motorsport’s environmental revolution: Dr Cristiana Pace. By Olivia Hicks
You can get your copy here.
Series News
As Formula E has announced that they are working towards a return to India, their long-delayed pitstop charging plans may already be irrelevant. Despite the first on-track tests having taken place in the late summer of 2022, it became evidently clear in early E-Prix tests at the start of 2024 that it was far from ready.
“We’ve got to give WAE every opportunity to resolve the challenges that we’ve seen with it; I think personally my enthusiasm for it is waning,” Andretti’s Roger Griffiths told The Race recently. “If the championship decides that it’s part of the racing format then we’ll go with that, but I’m starting to wonder whether its time has come and gone and maybe it would have been the right thing at the start of season nine [2023] but not going into season 11 [2024-25].”
Read more at The Race.
Vitas Carosella asks and looks to answer a fundamental question with respect to Formula 1’s Net Zero aspirations. Can Formula 1 be entertaining and sustainable?
“With the data for 2023 still to be assessed, it is likely that Formula 1 has made even more progress since the publication of the report. Furthermore, as Ellen Jones, Head of ESG at F1 rightfully pointed out during the media roundtable, “as our sport has been growing we have been able to materially reduce our carbon footprint.” However, according to the current report, to reach its goal of 50% emissions reductions (Net-Zero) by 2030, Formula 1 still needs to cut 37% of its greenhouse gas emissions in five and a half years. That remains a tall order.”
Read the full article at Forbes.
As mentioned in the article linked to above, one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions for Formula 1 is the logistics of getting the F1 circus to the ever increasing number of races spread out across the globe. Part of the solution is to group races geographically, a job that promoter contracts, weather and culture make increasingly difficult to achieve.
“But due to existing mid-to-long-term contracts, it is not as easy as rejigging the calendar in one fell swoop. And the sheer number of puzzle pieces F1 has to try and fit – from the climate to religious holidays and date equity demands – is sometimes underestimated by the outside world.”
Read the full article at Autosport.
The second edition of the Swedish E-Kart Championship, featuring the Rotax E20 electric karts, has made its way into the history books at Gelleråsen Arena near the city of Karlskoga.
The winner of the 2024 national title was Junior Jonsson in the Senior category, while Jonatan Morin took the honours in the Masters. Both the winners were awarded with their tickets to join Team Sweden at the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals taking place in Sarno, Italy this October 19-26.
Read more here.
Getting to the Track Sustainably
- Farnborough Airshow 2024 Highlights Hydrogen Aviation and Key Takeaways (HYSKY)
- IAG and Repsol agree to largest purchase of SAF in Spain (Biofuels International)
- World’s First Hydrogen-Powered Regional Vertical Take-Off Aircraft Unveiled (HYSKY)
- Robinson and United Therapeutics Team Up for Hydrogen-Powered Helicopters (HYSKY)
- GKN Aerospace and University of Nottingham Develop Cryogenic Hydrogen-Electric Propulsion for Net-Zero Air Travel (HYSKY)
- Hydrogen Flights Set to Revolutionize Air Travel by 2045 (HYSKY)
- World’s First Hydrogen-Based Green SAF Plant to Begin Operation at Oxford Airport (HYSKY)
- Modern airplanes are worse for the environment but there is a solution (Earth.com)
- Delta and Junior Achievement Europe partner to launch Sustainable Skies Challenge (Delta)
- 300 Volvo e-trucks order propels DSV to top spot in European EV fleets (Freight Carbon Zero)
- Acura Is Working on an All-Electric Sports Car to Replace the NSX (Robb Report)
- Porsche won’t make EVs with simulated shifts (Green Car Reports)
- Electric sportscar concept unveiled by Ariel Motor Company (PMW)
- Art And Science 2.0? Cadillac Introduces Opulent Velocity Concept (Electrified Magazine)
- Cadillac Opulent Velocity Concept Imagines an Electric V-Series Hypercar (AutoWeek)
- Freight Carbon Zero Think Tank: Financing the road to zero – who pays? (Freight Carbon Zero)
- Porsche R&D boss: E-fuel plant should serve as “role model” (Green Car Reports)
- Tesla Launches First All-Electric Train in Germany (EV Magazine)
- California’s new electric train makes for a shockingly better trip—we tried it – Fast Company (Fast Company)
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a former lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.
