The sustainability of F1 is growing: the goal is Net Zero in 2030

In recent years, Formula 1 has pushed considerably on the issue of sustainability, also launching the “Net Zero by 2030” campaign, with which it aims to reduce absolute carbon emissions by 50% compared to the reference value of 2018, the year prior to the launch of this initiative.

This also includes the energy consumption of the facilities, the F1 events linked to the various race weekends, all the travel and logistics necessary to take the Circus around the world.

Although not all the data for 2023 is yet available, the latest report on the impact of F1 boasts a reduction of 13% between 2018 and 2022. A significant figure achieved in four years despite the expansion of the series, but F1 has already illustrated the latest initiatives to contribute to achieving the objective over the next six years.

The most impactful aspect in terms of carbon emissions is that of the calendar. With the expansion of the World Championship to 24 races, travel and the organization of the calendar now account for around 49% of its carbon footprint, but there are several initiatives to mitigate the impact.

After the switch to more efficient Boeing 777F cargo jets with logistics partner DHL, it was also decided to focus on a new fleet of 18 trucks powered by biofuel to reduce emissions in the nine European races on the calendar, given that the logistics hub is located right on the old continent.

The restructuring of the calendar outside of Europe is also part of the process of rationalizing the various events of the world championship. Although there is still work in progress, given that existing contracts need to be reconciled, the needs of the promoters and any problems in terms of weather conditions, F1 has already started to reorganize the calendar. For example, moving the Japanese Grand Prix to its new spring date will be one of the changes that will help optimize the flow of goods from Australia and China to subsequent races.

“The reason this is important is that the calendar reflects our current transport model, where the majority of emissions are from aviation,” said Ellen Jones, F1's head of energy, sustainability and governance.

“When you can reduce these distances, you can reduce your carbon footprint, which adds to the technological innovation that we can support, such as biofuels and trucks, and sustainable aviation fuel in the future.”

DHL transport

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

F1 has also reviewed some ways to reduce the amount of goods and staff needed at events, instead increasing its capabilities to operate remotely. Additionally, there is a strong push towards renewable energy sources to power its facilities: “The transition to renewable energy, both at home and away, is really key for us and is behind the first 13% of reductions ” Jones said.

“By 2022 statistics, this has led to a 56% reduction in emissions across all factories and facilities. In 2023 and beyond, we can also start to see how we are transitioning to renewable energy outside of the UK” .

Last year, during the Austrian Grand Prix, F1 experimented with renewable energy generators powered by biofuel and solar energy, which reduced paddock emissions by 90%. These convincing results have pushed FOM to continue repeating these experiments, extending the same methods to other races in the future.

The initiative comes as part of a push to encourage organizers to make F1 events more sustainable. Jones says that over 75% of Grand Prix promoters are incorporating ways to harness renewable energy into their events, while the rest of the events will have an agreement when their contracts are renewed, including specific clauses to achieve this. .

“The first thing we did when I started working here, about two years ago, was to update the contracts: we need to say what our expectations are for hosting a Formula 1 event,” Jones explained.

“We have had a fantastic response to the way we work with our promoters. Not only in terms of the energy used during the event, but also in a number of areas critical to us, from fan travel, to how this was reflected in the local communities.

“There are minimum delivery clauses that we have established with our promoters. We have an annual sustainability plan and we give feedback on how they are performing on these aspects. And with the next phase of our sustainability strategy, the minimum standards and contracts for the period after 2025 will become even higher”.

F1 will switch to Power Units powered entirely by sustainable fuels from 2026, even though the emissions caused by the twenty cars on the track represent less than 1% of the sport's total footprint on the planet. More than a practical objective, therefore, this move is therefore seen primarily as a way to influence the industry to adopt more sustainable fuels.

As for F1 itself, Jones said she was confident it was on track to meet its 50% reduction target by 2030 once the effect of its latest set of initiatives was measured, although she warned that F1's gains from this point of view will not be linear.

“We are certainly on track to achieve the goal and the key elements are the test results and the work that you can read in the 2023 report. It is the continued adoption of alternative fuels in all sectors of our activities, from cars, to 'air, to the on-site generators”.

“It's also the shared impact of bringing others on the journey we're on to be more sustainable. It's one thing for all 10 teams to have a different solution when they're in the paddock. The savings are much more substantial when you have a centralized solution for which we can work together.”

“And then the third aspect, which probably has a longer lead time, is next-generation operations. The first and second are aspects that we will start to see this year and that will continue to accelerate in the future. Operations related to new generation technologies will instead take longer, because the technology is very complex”.