F1 to develop clean "drop-in fuel" for race and road use

F1 has been at the forefront of developing the most efficient power units and more recently, hybrid systems. For the past 70 years, F1 has been finding ways to get the best out of their power plants but now, there’s a new number that counts for the most: carbon emissions.

As we all know, the great majority of vehicles in the world still run on high-carbon fuels, but the motorsport body wants to change that. They estimate that in about nine years, there will be 1.8 billion cars across the globe with only 8% of them being electric vehicles. As early as 2025, F1 wants to roll out new power units for their cars that use what they call a “drop-in fuel”. Here’s where it gets better.

By using renewable biowaste, the drop-in fuel is a unique product that is 100% sustainable. While it will be formulated to provide the power needed for race engines, F1 is also in active talks with fuel companies to create fuel enough for the Championship Series, and mass consumption as well. Yes, they want the drop-in fuel to be compatible in both race cars and road cars.

The new fuel will use components that come from a carbon capture scheme, municipal waste, or non-food biomass. It’s a lab-created fuel that can even power standard internal combustion engines without any modifications. F1 said that it will also match the energy density of current fuels used in the sport so the cars of the future will be just as fast when using the drop-in. How the fuel will work for daily applications is probably magic, but more realistically, F1 will probably explain more in the coming months of development.

All in all, F1 estimates that they can achieve greenhouse gas emissions savings of about 65% relative to fossil-derived fuel. If the drop-in fuel turns out as good – ideally better – as to how they envision it to be, then we’ll have ourselves the same fast-paced motorsport that’s a whole lot greener and environment-friendly. With car and driver safety making leaps and bounds in F1, it’s about time they start finding ways to care for its fans and Mother Earth, too.

They said it themselves, anyway. F1 is starting a green revolution, and this is only the beginning of what is possible.