F1’s sustainable promise comes up against record calendar – 02/29/2024 – Sport

It has been less than five years since F1 first demonstrated its concern with sustainability. The most prestigious category in motor sport, founded in 1950, announced at the end of 2019 its plan to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2030 and promote more sustainable racing from 2025 onwards, two ambitious goals for a competition that makes a series of travel around the world.

The 2024 season, starting this weekend, at the Bahrain GP, ​​will be the longest in history, with 24 races, a number that could have been recorded in 2023, when the Chinese and Emilia-Romagna GPs ended up cancelled.

For this year’s calendar, F1 announced changes to the order of stages to group geographically close races, with the aim of reducing travel. Even so, they were small changes.

The main change was to allocate Japan as the fourth stage of the year, preceding the race in China, which returns to the World Cup, and Australia, forming a small Asia/Oceania bloc. In this way, the race on Japanese soil practically swaps places with the Azerbaijan stage, which will be held in September.

The first two stages, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, will be played this Saturday, at 12pm (Brasília time, broadcast on Band), and on the 9th, also a Saturday, in respect of Ramadan, a sacred period for Muslims.

In this year’s Islamic calendar, the date begins on the 10th, a Sunday, which is why the Saudi race had to be brought forward to Saturday, as well as the race in Bahrain, brought forward to have a minimum interval of seven days between one race and the next. .

Despite seeking greater regionalization, F1 will still have long distances covered during the European bloc, when the Canadian GP will be held between the Monaco and Spanish stages.

At the request of SheetDaniel Caiche, postgraduate professor in ESG and Corporate Sustainability at FGV, estimated the distances that the category will cover to complete the 2024 calendar.

To make the calculation, the location of the circuits was considered, in addition to prioritizing travel via air routes, as F1 does. Therefore, Daniel estimates that the total traveled will be 117,920 km.

Based on this number, the professor also estimated that the carbon footprint that the circus in this category could leave is 195,747 tons of CO_two. In this case, 80 members and a weight of 30 tons were considered for each of the teams (see the methodology below).

According to the professor, to carry out the exact emissions inventory, it would be necessary to have F1’s detailed logistical plans, which the category does not publicly disclose.

“In this way, some calculation assumptions were assumed with the aim of enabling an approximation of reality and giving an idea of ​​the magnitude of the impact [ambiental] logistics”, he explains.

For three-time champion Max Verstappen, the calendar is not sustainable either for the planet or for the health of the drivers. “It’s always difficult to know what time zone we are in.”

A report from the category itself, released in 2019, at the time it adopted the objective of zero carbon emissions, states that F1 emitted 256 thousand tons of CO that year._two. Around 45% of this comes from road, air and sea travel logistics. Another 27% comes from travel by team employees and event partners. Cars themselves represent just 0.7% of the total.

This means that achieving the goal requires more than the search for a renewable fuel, often cited by the category to demonstrate its environmental concern.

Currently, F1 uses a source with 10% ethanol. In 2026, when a new regulation for cars comes into force, the percentage will reach 100%.

The origin of the money with which the technology has been developed, however, is subject to criticism.

During all stages, brands from the main fossil fuel companies are everywhere, such as Shell, in the Ferrari car, and Petronas, in the full name of Mercedes.

The most visible presence on the circuits, however, is Saudi Aramco, one of F1’s largest global partners. The state-owned oil and gas giant was named in 2019 as the world’s biggest corporate polluter, responsible for almost 60 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions since 1965, according to a report by The Guardian newspaper.

When justifying the partnership, F1’s head of sustainability, Ellen Jones, who took on the role in 2022, when the position was created, says that Aramco is involved in the creation of sustainable fuel.

“It’s important to work with those who can create fuels,” he says.

Jones also lists other actions that he has coordinated, such as reducing single-use plastics at race sites, encouraging reuse and recycling practices, installing solar panels and introducing remote transmission of races. In races in Europe, part of the logistics is done with biofuel trucks.

To achieve zero carbon targets by 2030, it is also working to maximize the category’s logistical efficiency, transforming factories and team facilities into spaces with 100% renewable energy.

These are practices similar to those carried out by FE, a category that was created in 2014 with the aim of being sustainable. According to Julia Palle, vice president of sustainability at FE, the calendar, for example, “is adjusted annually to maximize optimal sustainable freight routes, including the use of road and ocean freight.”

Palle also states that the FE uses renewable energy in races, such as hydrotreated vegetable oil, which, she claims, “can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90% compared to standard diesel”, in addition to encouraging its fans to favor public transport.

F1’s push towards sustainability comes at a time when the category is seeking to rejuvenate its audience. A survey of the category itself, with 167 thousand people in 182 countries, showed that 64% of the current fan base is between 16 and 34 years old. Of the total, more than half advocate that the championship develop 100% green fuels.

“Younger people are increasingly aware of the impacts of climate change on their lives”, says FGV professor Daniel Caiche. “This awareness materializes in consumption choices. These generations are more demanding when it comes to consuming products and shows, such as F1.”

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How carbon emissions were calculated

Total distance: 117,920km
Number of passengers: 80 per team
Charge: 30 tons per team
Factor per passenger: 0.2 kgCO²/km
Factor per kg load: 0.05kgCO²/km

Passenger emissions: 18,867 tCO²e
Cargo emissions: 176,880 tCO²e
Total emissions: 195,747 tCO²e

Source:
Adaptation of ICAO Carbon Emissions Calculator Methodology, 2018