Photo of a F1 race in Singapore

Do any of you here like car racing, more specifically Singapore Grand Prix (Formula 1 – F1)? Have any of you been to the event held annually around September in Singapore? Personally, I have. To clarify, I was not there to watch the race but I was there as a chef. Ps, I don’t really like this kinda event haha. 

Anyways, today I would like to talk more about this special event that only occurs once a year. This annual event causes extensive damage to the environment. According to Benson (2019), this amounts to a total carbon emission of 256,551 tonnes in 2018. The figures are really scary and it excludes fans’ transportation emission for attending to the event. 

To mitigate the amount of carbon emission, F1 has launched a plan to be carbon neutral by the year 2030. Here is the list of what they intend to achieve: 

1. Use of ultra-efficient logistics and green modes of transportation and 100% renewable power offices, facilities, and factories. 
2. All events to be sustainable by the year 2025, including eliminating single-use plastics and ensuring all waste is reused, recycled, or composted.
3. In 2021, all the petrol used in F1 must have a biofuel content of at least 10%.
4. Create “the world’s first net-zero carbon hybrid internal combustion engine”.

The team has already begun working towards their goals. It really seems promising and all the above goals seem achievable. However, Benson (2019), has broken down the emission released from this F1 event and it seems that the logistics are the culprit. Logistics account for 45% of the 256,551 tonnes of carbon emission while the total F1 emissions including race and test mileage only account for 0.7%. Though it’s a good idea to create a net-zero carbon hybrid internal combustion engine, I would feel that reducing the amount of carbon from logistics should be their main priority.  

Besides that, we have to remember that people all over the world travel to Singapore just to watch this event. Have we thought about how much greenhouse gases (GHGs) are released when they travel here? And all the other carbon footprint they will release when they are here? The fans themselves contribute to the carbon emission and their emission could have exceeded emission from the event itself. But how can we stop or prevent them from traveling? And why would Singapore’s tourism board do that? Because it would definitely affect their revenue. Hmm, this is indeed a complex problem. 

It’s really not easy to come up with ideas to mitigate carbon emission while ensuring the sustainability of other sectors. More could definitely be done but I guess this is a good start as the problem of air pollution by F1 is being recognized! That’s all I have for now. Seeya next time!

Your environmental buddy,
Jeanice

Reference:
Benson,Andrew. (2019). Formula 1 launches a plan to become carbon neutral by 2030. Retrieved  from https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50382898