Formula 1 Going Green By Switching To Ethanol?

Formula 1, widely considered the pinnacle of automotive engineering but woefully behind in environmentalism, is reportedly considering a switch to ethanol. The move comes as the sport faces increasing pressure from Max Mosley, the beleaguered president of F1's sanctioning body, to make its cars more energy-efficient and the engineering behind them more relevant to road cars. Given the stratospheric amounts of fossil fuels the sport's 10 teams consume, Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone - who controls F1's business affairs - realize Formula 1 is a target ripe for attack by environmentalists and regulators. This year, at least 5.75 percent of the fuel burned by F1 cars be renewable, and next year will see the adoption of kinetic energy recovery systems to capture energy generated by the cars' tremendous braking forces. Now comes word the sport may switch to ethanol. "Bernie last year contacted the No. 1 group for ethanol in Brazil," two-time champion Emerson Fittipaldi told the Arizona Republic. "I'm sure a lot of other (racing) categories in the world are going to follow Indianapolis." That isn't a lot to go on, and Fittipaldi may not be the most objective source - the Brazilian is building a refinery and grows sugar cane for use as fuel. But the Indy Racing League, which includes the legendary Indianapolis 500, has been running 100 percent ethanol for years since the 2007 season and General Motors is pushing NASCAR to do the same. Several teams in the American Le Mans Series run on cellulosic E85, and the Audi R10 that Audi Sport Team Joest will race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans next weekend will be fueled in part by biodiesel. It's about time F1 cleaned up its act. Source: Wired - Utopia