The latest innovations in biofuel development are coming from what might seem like an unlikely source: Formula 1 racing.
The business that’s historically burned through fossil fuels like it was going out of style finally came to terms with the fact that it was, actually, going out of style. In acknowledgment of the climate crisis, the organization made a pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2021, with net-zero designation coming in 2030.
One of the major components of this effort has been a complete overhaul of F1’s fuel choice, and it’s been reported that its governing body, FIA, has developed a new fuel for Formula 1 that’s 100% sustainable.
Instead of using food crops like Ethanol for this project, FIA’s uses refined biowaste, a process that generally comes from animal waste or food scraps from farms or processing plants. The next step has been to share barrels of the new fuel with F1 power unit manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Renault, and Honda, in order for them to test and validate the product.
F1 hopes to prove to the fuel industry that this can be done, opening the door for more innovation from its existing suppliers like Shell and Exxon Mobil to create the fuels themselves.
Even with the test formula in the mix, this would not be an abrupt transition. According to The Drive, F1 vehicles already sort of use sustainable fuels, but the requirement says the mix only need contain 5.75% bio-components. Next season, the target would move to 10%, ideally, and further from there.
According to Formula 1, focusing on biofuels rather than electric powertrains is a way of addressing carbon goals more in the near term, since such a large percentage of the world’s vehicles still use internal combustion engines.
