Could Motorsport Say Goodbye To Fossil Fuels?

Historically, almost all of the biggest motorsports in the world have relied heavily on fossil fuels to provide the speed, noise and action that an audience of millions have come to expect.

However, an interview with Ross Brawn, Managing Director for Motorsports for the Formula One Group, suggests that the unthinkable change away from fossil fuels not only might occur but is likely to occur this decade.

The main dilemma that remains, however, is determining which carbon-neutral solution would replace fossil fuels, and how that can match the other demands the motorsport world has in providing entertainment, spectacle and the most powerful cars in the world.

 

The Road To 2030

In November 2019, Formula One announced their plans to be carbon neutral in a decade, which would require every aspect of their business to be part of this plan.

Not only did the cars need to have a net-zero impact, but the huge logistics operation needed to avoid ruining the work set in designing efficient cars, as well as offices, surface grinding facilities, factories and other amenities being powered purely by renewable energy.

Even with ambitious goals such as these, if F1 plans to continue to use fossil fuels it has admitted that it would need to rely heavily on offsetting the carbon dioxide emitted from the cars.

Unlike consumer cars, which are set to phase out petrol and diesel engines in the UK by the same goal year of 2030, F1 has not pledged to get rid of fossil fuels.

In fact, Ross Brawn noted that the cars rely on fossil fuels to provide the 1000 horsepower turbo-hybrid engines that have been in the rules since 2014.

This, in effect, rules out the use of fully electric engines, which have been used to power F1’s sister series, the FIA Formula E championship.

Ross Brawn specifically noted that due to limits in range that have led to the rather odd and complicated rules in Formula E (a sport where at one point a driver needed to switch cars halfway through a race), electric vehicles are not viable and lack the spectacle of loud combustion engines.

Biofuels are a solution that F1 has been interested in for quite some time, with the 2022 rules requiring that all fuels used by teams be made up of at least 10 per cent biofuels.

Providing that the biomass used to make the fuel is sustainably grown and replanted and that the refining process does not use too much energy or cause too much pollution, biofuels can be sustainable.

There is also interest in moving to hydrogen fuel cells if the technology becomes feasible for an entire 90-minute race.

However, Ross Brawn did emphasise that decisions do need to be made to avoid F1, and motorsport in general, becoming a “dinosaur”.

This problem has been seen at several points in the past. Technologies that are standard issue on even entry-level cars, such as traction control, anti-lock brakes, stability management and active suspension, have been banned since 1993.

This has led to cars that are slower than they could be and no longer come close to resembling road-legal cars. This is a problem that has also been seen in other racing series such as NASCAR and DTM.

However, to reach their ambitious 2030 goals, F1 needs to be dramatic with the changes they make, and whilst they have tried to be gradual with changes to fuel and relied heavily on efficient engines, more drastic changes are expected to be required.

 

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MATT BEVERLEY

A time served Mechanical engineer Matt’s background includes many high-profile projects within the Automotive Industry: The Rolls Royce Phantom, Rolls Royce Cullinan, Spyker Le-Mans racing teams, Bentley, Aston Martin, and Airbus A380. This history and knowledge of complex manufacturing and engineering projects have been transferred and further developed into the bulk material handling sector. Matt has work in Europe, North America, Indonesia, and China

He joined the bulk solids and bulk handling industry in 2019 as Managing Director of Hoverdale UK Ltd and subsequently completed a Management buyout in July 2020. The business has grown yearly, increased employment, its customer base, and worldwide reputation, and disrupted the market with groundbreaking innovative technology. Since Matt took over Hoverdale, the company has filed four patents for innovation; one was granted in 2023 for a design to improve bulk handling. The success had been driven by delivering tailored solutions to the waste recycling sectors that keep material flowing out and money flowing in.

Awards Include

  • 2024 – Shapa company of the Year
  • 2024- Shapa Innovation in Technology
  • 2024- MHEA Engineer of the year
  • 2021 – MHEA Innovation of the year
  • 2021- IMechE Innovation award

Current Positions Include.

  • Group Chairman Hoverdale UK Ltd
  • President (MHEA) Material Handling Engineers Association
  • Vice Chairman: IMechE Bulk Material Handling Committee
  • Council Member: (SHAPA) Solids Handling & Particle Association
  • Member: Chartered Management Institute

Matt has been happily married to Julie for 22 years and has 4 children, 3 of which are involved within the Hoverdale group of companies. He is an RFU level 2 qualified coach and referee having been in several head coaching roles at various age groups from under 6’s to adults for his local team Nuneaton RFC. He believes in the core values that rugby teaches of Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline, Sportsmanship and try’s to carry this through in his day to day business activities. He is passionate at brining the next generation of young, diverse engineers into the sector through promotion of apprenticeship scheme and further education routes.

DAVID BARTER

David is an experienced leader, with a background covering Operations, eCommerce, Finance, Compliance, HR and IT. His career spans Banking, Retail and Engineering, spending the majority of his career working for ALDI as they grew to become 4th largest supermarket in the UK, including seven years on their UK board as Managing Director of IT and eCommerce.

David joined Hoverdale’s Senior Management Team in 2023 to seek a fresh challenge in a completely different industry sector. He has applied his approach to Process Improvement, Efficiency, Customer Service and Teamwork to great effect during Hoverdale’s sustained growth.

Married to Jane, with three adult sons between them, David volunteers on the board of the Nottingham Playhouse theatre as well as his local rugby and football clubs. Any spare time he spends enjoying walks with their Golden Retriever, Buzz, who is also regularly seen in the Hoverdale office.

BEN DUCHESNE

Ben is a time serviced field service engineer in the busy waste and recycling sector, who’s career moved into to managing service teams and beyond. Originally beginning his career with a HGV repair and maintenance apprenticeship with IVECO, from there travelling and working in multiple countries moving towards waste processing shredders.

Ben joined the Hoverdale team in September 2024 seeking to apply his extensive knowledge to a new area. His values and ethics fit perfectly within the Hoverdale ethos.

He is happily married to Kristina, with 4 wonderful young children; 14, 11, 8 and 5. We the children he doesn’t get much spare time. He is a family man, who enjoys spending as much time with them as possible.