Welcome back dear readers! In the last post, Eunice talked about environmental pollution in the world of Formula 1 (F1), particularly focusing on our favourite racer, Lewis Hamilton, who has been openly advocating for a greener F1. Today, I will be sharing with you my thoughts on whether F1 has been doing enough to achieve a more sustainable and less polluting sports event.
source: https://corp.formula1.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Environmental-sustainability-Corp-website-vFINAL.pdf
As seen in the piechart above which was retrieved from F1’s environmental sustainability strategy report, the estimated footprint of F1’s scope 1, 2 and 3 in 2019 was an alarming 256,551 tonnes of carbon dioxide. It further breaks down this emission, showing that 45.0% comes from logistics, 27.7% comes from business travels, 19.3% comes from facilities and factories, 7.3% comes from event operations and 0.7% comes from power unit emissions. Thus, we can clearly see how just 1 sports event can consist of a myriad of different aspects, all of which are extremely energy-consuming and environmentally-polluting!
In an attempt to become more environmentally sustainable, all F1 cars have switched to hybrid gas and electric engine systems since the start of 2009 where electricity generated from the heat of the engines are used to add horsepower to the car’s performance. Furthermore, McLaren was the first F1 team to be carbon neutral and to achieve the Carbon Trust Standard where it was able to attain “annual savings of more than 1500 tonnes of CO2 emissions”, “thanks to a series of efficiency-driven measures within the McLaren Technology Centre” (Autosport.com, 2011). However, with the rise of Formula E which runs on electric vehicles as shown below that promote environmental sustainability and lower carbon emissions, “F1 must be feeling the pressure to keep up” and to take more action towards tackling their pollution problem as “younger fans shift to the Formula E format which promotes electric vehicles,”, causing the revenue and spectatorship of F1 to fall (O’Shea et.al., 2020).
source: https://www.we-online.com/web/en/formel_e/about_formel_e/about/about_formel_e.php
Critics argue that “despite remarkable gains in efficiency in the past six years, F1 has done little to boast about its pioneering efforts in hybrid engine technology” and the “image of a huge traveling circus jetting between events with the sole purpose of driving petrol-powered cars in circles” (Edmondson, 2019) creates a significant problem for the F1 industry in terms of pushing for environmental sustainability as the sport itself is inherently not environmentally-friendly. In order to “future-proof” itself, F1 has created a plan to have zero carbon footprint by 2030 and to have “sustainable” races by 2025, but this plan was seen as ambitious by many. Lewis Hamilton argues that “F1 is only implementing net carbon neutral status in 10 years’ time and I don’t fully understand why that doesn’t change sooner. These large corporations that have a lot of money and power behind them and can definitely make change happen quicker, but it’s not their number one priority” (Edmondson, 2019).
Hence, it is indubitable that while the F1 industry has made efforts and plans in ensuring their cars run fully on advanced sustainable fuel and reducing carbon emissions in other aspects, I personally believe that there is still not enough being done and there is a lack of a sense of urgency. With an increasing global consciousness of climate change, there is a dire need for the F1 industry to keep up with these concerns and play their part in becoming less environmentlaly-polluting for it to survive in the long-run. Being enthusiastic fans of F1 and Lewis Hamilton, we have high hopes that he can continue to raise awareness and advocate for change in creating a more sustainable F1 for all!
Cheers,
Natasha
References
Autosport.com. (2011). McLaren becomes first Formula 1 to be carbon-neutral. [online] Available at: http://autosport.com/f1/news/96656/mclaren-becomes-carbonneutral [Accessed 22 Oct. 2020].
Edmondson, L. (2019). ESPN.com. The environment will pose F1’s biggest challenge in the 2020s. [online] Available at: https://www.espn.com.sg/f1/story/_/id/28395224/the-environment-pose-f1-biggest-challenge-2020s [Accessed 22 Oct. 2020].
https://corp.formula1.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Environmental-sustainability-Corp-website-vFINAL.pdf
https://www.we-online.com/web/en/formel_e/about_formel_e/about/about_formel_e.php
O’Shea, M., Perry, N. and Duffy, S. (2020). Formula 1 says it’s going carbon neutral but fans must demand greater detail on how. [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/formula-1-says-its-going-carbon-neutral-but-fans-must-demand-greater-detail-on-how-127328 [Accessed 22 Oct. 2020].