Synthetic, sustainable fuel is seen by many to be the lifeblood of both Formula 1 and motor sport as a whole as it moves towards a net carbon zero future – it really is the future of racing.
Desperate to shed its skin as the most wasteful and environmentally damaging sport out there – at least in the image it projects – F1 has been beating its own drum in recent years about how it plans to move to being net zero by 2030.
Four years prior to this deadline, the world championship will begin using synthetic sustainable fuel, developed with Saudi oil giant ARAMCO, where the carbon circle is neutral, ie the same amount of carbon is put into the fuel’s manufacture as is emitted when it’s used, maintaining the amount that is already in the atmosphere.
This is essential for F1’s green target in that it will not only be used in the competition cars, but also the trucks and planes which carry the grand prix circus round the world.
However, we might not have to wait until 2026 to see sustainable synthetic fuels used in motor sport – F1 tech guru Paddy Lowe’s Zero Petroleum is already producing what could be the elixir of racing life in years to come.
It therefore might be hard to believe, but a small ice sculpture recently carved at a local British airshow could prove to be one of the most significant moments in humanity’s struggle to protect its environment.
The carving – of a Red Arrow stunt plane – was made using a chainsaw powered by Lowe’s 100% sustainable fuel.
It followed the RAF and ZP joining forces to conduct the world’s first-ever demonstration flight of a plane using entirely synthetic aviation fuel back in June.
“We have to reverse the emissions process” Paddy Lowe
Now the two organizations have announced a deal for ZP to supply all the airforce’s fuel in a bid to make the entire RAF net-carbon zero by 2040.
Lowe and his team are urgently pushing hard to get the fuel into as many other industries as possible, with him telling Motor Sport, “The world is decades behind – we have to reverse the emissions process.”
F1, in partnership with Aramco, is forging ahead with its own 100% sustainable fuel for introduction in 2026 but, as Lowe is demonstrating, grand prix racing is not the only viable area for this form of green energy.
ZP’s new fuel works via fully sustainable sources, and produces zero emissions both in its manufacture and use. The process uses electricity generated via solar panels and wind farms, which then powers the extraction of hydrogen from water via electrolysis and that of carbon from the atmosphere, gathered using a technique known as direct air capture.
Lowe with ZP-powered chainsaw
Zero Petroleum
These are then synthesized to make petrol, with no emissions generated in the process.
Theoretically, the same amount of carbon dioxide which is generated is then recaptured, so no further emissions are put into the atmosphere – potentially the ideal alternative to using finite and environmentally damaging fossil fuels.
For Lowe, his developing venture isn’t just a business idea jumping on the sustainability bandwagon, with these issues playing on his mind since his younger days.
“I’ve always thought about it as this sort of sense that you’re using up something that will run out,” he says.