The powers that be in Formula One have been tossing around ideas for making the sport more environmentally and technologically relevant for several years. While many if not most of the readers would respond to that discussion with the answer that it should just be shut down, the FIA is unlikely to do that anytime soon. Barring that drastic option, there are still some interesting possibilities. Most recently, the discussion has focused on hybrid powertrains using some sort of flywheel type mechanical energy storage device.

FIA President Max Mosley recently also assumed the presidency of the International Advanced Mobility Forum. At an IAMF meeting in Monaco (how come I never get sent to meetings in Monaco?) this week, Mosely said that F1 would be actively promoting hybridization and 2009, 2011 and 2013 would be significant milestones in the process of "greening" Formula One. Some sort of brake energy regeneration should be included in F1 cars starting in 2009, with exhaust gas recycling coming by 2013. It's not clear precisely what that means, but the most likely scenario is a return to turbocharging. F1 engines were turbocharged from the early eighties to the early nineties. If they do that in 2013, that would likely put F1 several years behind many road cars moving to down-sized boosted engines. Based on Mosley's comments it seems like the 2009 hybrid strategy will actually be electrical rather than mechanical. Another interim step in 2011 would see energy recovery from the cooling system although precisely how they would be implemented is unknown.

[Source: World Car Fans]

The EU has taken into account a formal complaint made by Fórmula Verda, an association led by the Valencian Federation of Ecologistas en Acción against the celebration of a F1 Grand Pix race in Valencia, Spain on August 24th (the promotional video is after the jump). The Grand Prix, which was even used as a political weapon between candidates for the regional government, will be raced from 2008 to 2014.

In order to adapt the streets of Valencia (near the Port) for such an event, lots of work needs to be done, and these plans haven't been assessed environmentally. The changes affect the primary road network of the area and the protected spaces: the district of el Grao and a park created when the Turia river was rerouted outside the city in the '80s. Environmental assessments are mandatory under the EU rules of public works. The organisers of the race (a consortium between a private company, the regional government and the city council) didn't take into consideration the impact of noise pollution nor have published any information about the project.

Related:

• Petrobras develops first Formula 1 biofuel, a secret blend
• Alt Car Expo 2007: LTU's Element One race team on track for Formula Zero starting in June 2008
• Formula One hybrid racing coming in 2010

[Source: Agencia EFE via Autocity]

We have often brought up the fact that the Formula 1 racing series, and their sanctioning body the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), would like to showcase improved efficiency and use technology that is more relevant to the cars that are actually driven on the street. Honda has taken the lead when it comes to portraying a green, environmentally friendly image, but it used to be commonplace for technologies derived through the rigors of racing to show up on street driven cars in a few years. This has not been happening lately, as the race cars look and perform less and less like their road-going counterparts. It looks like the tables could turn on the sport, with the race cars instead using technology developed for the road. Specifically we are talking about recapturing braking energy to be reused as motive force. This is a common component of the hybrid car. According to Max Mosely, president of the FIA, "We will make research work in F1 more road-relevant. We will move F1 from the technology of the 20th century to that of the 21st century, to move away from F1 being labeled as a dinosaur."

While I would certainly never label the F1 series a dinosaur when it comes to technology, it is a good sign that the governing body of the sport recognizes that the cars need to have some connection with ordinary cars. We could soon see the day when F1 technology is making another impact on road cars, as the system that is being designed for the race series is totally different than what is currently available in hybrids on the roadways today. The system is being jointly designed by Torotrak and Xtrac. Instead of capturing the braking force as electricity, the force instead will be stored in a rotating flywheel as kinetic energy. Also part of the design is a variator which will transfer the kinetic power of the flywheel to the transmission; the end result will be cars slinging quickly out of corners that they had just slowed down for.

While the thought of a flywheel spinning at super high speed sounds a little scary, at least they are not trying rubber bands!

Related:

• Could hybrid technology move into Formula 1?

[Source: Wards Auto]

Just as the Indy Racing League has already done, the World Touring Car Championship has decided to make the switch to biofuels starting in 2009. As a matter of fact, for the 2008 year, teams will be allowed to use ethanol and diesel fuels in addition to standard unleaded gasoline. This article quotes Jacques Behar, chairman and CEO of championship promoter KSO as saying, "Alternative fuels will play a major role in motorsport's future and it is our goal to be at the forefront of this technology. With the close relationship between touring cars and their road-going equivalents we believe that the WTCC is the logical platform to raise public awareness of bio fuels."

Is it only a matter of time before NASCAR (which only recently switched to unleaded) joins in? What about F1? All of this begs the question: Is motorsport the "perfect" way to showcase green cars or is it a waste of fuel?

Related:

• Honda tests 100 percent ethanol IRL engine at Daytona
• Andretti Green testing with bigger Honda engine, ethanol
• Honda's IRL engines will get bigger with switch to ethanol
• Honda Insight rally team ready to race again
• No more engine whine! Could Formula 1 go diesel?
• Honda F1 confirms plan to promote environmental awareness with 2007 livery
• Alfa to return to WTCC under diesel power

[Source: Autosport via Jalopnik]

Click the photo for a high-res gallery of the 2007 Honda F1 car

With the Australian Formula One Grand Prix going over the weekend, all the crews were in Melbourne for the start of the 2007 F1 season including the Honda Racing F1 team which has "My Earth Dream" livery this year. In a move to offset their team's carbon footprint for the big race, drivers Jenson Button & Rubens Barrichello visited the Albert Park Primary School prior to the race and presented the school with eco-friendly fluorescent globes.

Over the course of one year, the more efficient fluorescent globes will save the school AUD$8,000 (US$6,362) off their electricity bill and 44.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions - more than five times the team's CO2 race footprint. The drivers also showed off the hydrogen-powered Honda FCX concept and their new F1 car in its earth livery.

Analysis: This is a fantastic idea by the Honda Racing F1 team and great PR to boot. It's amazing to think what a small change like replacing the lights in a primary school can have on emissions, because you're average F1 car is far from fuel efficient in gross usage.

Related:

• Is motorsport the "perfect" way to showcase green cars or is it a waste of fuel?
• Honda F1 confirms plan to promote environmental awareness with 2007 livery
• In the Books: Australian Formula One Grand Prix

[Source: Honda Racing press release]

Click on the photo for a high-res gallery of the Honda F1 "Earth" livery

As was reported a couple of days ago, 2007 Honda RA107 Formula One cars will feature an Earth themed livery. Instead of being plastered with logos promoting corporate sponsors, the car will feature an image of our pale blue dot. According to Honda the theme is a call to action for people and companies to join their drive to address environmental issues. Borrowing from the idea of the Million Dollar Homepage, anyone who wants to pledge to make a lifestyle change to help the environment and donate to an environmental charity, can get their name on one or more of the individual pixels that make up the image of the earth that covers the car.

Honda has also launched a website called www.myearthdream.com where people can participate in the program along with major sponsors like Universal Music and Gatorade, that are supporting the program, but apparently will not get their logos slathered all over the car. Formula One racing in and of itself can definitely not be considered green, but since initially being involved in Formula One in the sixties Honda has always rotated engineers through their racing programs and then back to production programs where they can apply what they have learned. Although performance is obviously the preeminent goal in racing, one of the keys to reaching that within the restrictions imposed by the rules is to maximize efficiency in every area of the car. Honda's press release and a video is after the jump.



[Source: Honda]

As gas prices have steadily climbed in the United States in recent years, many excuses have been made. One of the reasons frequently given by politicians who tend to legislate in ways favorable to the interests of large oil companies has been specialized fuel mixtures that attempt to minimize evaporative losses of fuel and adjust the oxygen content to optimize combustion. Over the years oil companies have added stuff like MTBE and ethanol as part of these efforts. Another thing that most people don't realize is that there is no such thing as "pure gasoline." The fuel known as gasoline is not any one chemical. It is a blend of several different petro-chemicals, primarily heptane, and octane, which are base hydro-carbon compounds with carbon chains consisting of 7 and 8 carbon atoms respectively. Depending on the desired octane rating of the fuel they combine these and many other chemicals in various proportions. One of the best known additives in the past was tetra-ethyl lead. This "lead" was used as a cheap way of raising the effective octane rating of the fuel. It was F1 racers, though, who took fuel formulation to the next level.

More after the jump

[Source: F1 Racing Live]