• Prodrive F1 project in doubt
• Silverstone redevelopment proposals to be unveiled next week
• RTN to build new Le Mans car
• Backing for Oxford Brookes hybrid Formula Student project
• King Review publishes interim report on low carbon automotive technologies
• ALMS to allow use of E85 and biodiesel

According to the autosport.com website plans by the Banbury, UK based automotive and motorsport development company Prodrive to enter Formula One in 2008 have been thrown into doubt by the news that its negotiations with McLaren over the supply of cars have broken down.

In April 2006 Prodrive’s bid to be the 12th team in the Formula One World Championship was selected by the FIA in preference to a number of others. Prodrive proposed to run its team using chassis and engines supplied by an existing Formula One team but protests from existing F1 teams, which have previously been required to design and build their own cars, have led to a delay in such an approach being approved for 2008.

An FIA International Court of Appeal in London is due to give its ruling on the matter on October 24.

Proposals for the redevelopment of the UK’s Silverstone race circuit near Northampton will go on public display next week as part of a consultation process with local communities,

The planning document showing the proposals, which include a motor sport technology park and education campus, a business park, hotels, restaurants and housing as well as a museum, an exhibition area and an arena for a range of motoring activities, will be available from October 16 on local council websites and in libraries, council offices and tourist information centres in the nearby towns of Brackley and Towcester. The consultation is scheduled to last until November 26 2007.

Racing Technology Norfolk Ltd, the Hingham, UK based company which when part of Audi Sport built the 2003 Le Mans 24 Hour race winning Bentley Speed 8 racecar, has won a contract to build a new Le Mans sports prototype.

The Wakefield,UK based Embassy Racing organisation has commissioned Peter Elleray, the chief designer of the 2003 Bentley, to design an LMP2 chassis for the 2008 Le Mans Series and the 24 hour race and has contracted RTN to produce its main chassis structure, bodywork and wind tunnel models.

RTN commercial manager Graham Muff said, "We're delighted and proud to have been selected by Embassy Racing as their technical partner to deliver the major structures of their new endurance racer. The contract recognises Racing Technology Norfolk's unquestioned credentials in advanced composites and is a big vote of confidence as Racing Technology Norfolk returns to the commercial world. A credit to Norfolk motorsport."

The Formula Student team at the UK’s Oxford Brookes University has won backing from the Abbey bank for its hybrid racing car project.

In July OBU presented a working hybrid car at the 2007 Formula Student competition at Silverstone as part of a Low Carbon Demonstration Event. In 2008 Formula Student will feature a dedicated class for hybrid vehicles.

The 2007 Budget announced a review of vehicle and fuel technologies which could help to decarbonise road transport, particularly cars, over the next 25 years, led by Professor Julia King, Vice Chancellor of Aston University, working with Sir Nicholas Stern. Professor King’s interim analytical report (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/9/5/pbr_csr07_king840.pdf) was published yesterday alongside the Pre-Budget Report.

Part I: ‘The potential for CO2 reduction’ sets out the environmental challenge for road transport and looks at the scope for emissions savings from more efficient vehicle technologies, cleaner fuels and smart consumer choices.

The final part of the King Review will report in 2008 and will offer policy recommendations to help meet the challenge set out in Part I.

The interim report suggests that in the long-term (possibly by 2050 in the developed world), almost complete ‘decarbonisation’ of road transport is a possibility.

If substantial progress can be made in solving electric vehicle technology challenges and, critically, the power-sector can be decarbonised and expanded to supply a large proportion of road transport demand, around a 90% reduction per kilometre emissions would be achievable across the fleet. If the rate of road transport growth projected by last year’s Eddington report on transport continues, and road use in the UK approximately doubles by 2050, this could deliver an 80% reduction in total road transport CO2 emissions, relative to 2000 levels.

As well as focusing now on the technologies that can achieve the long-term objective of decarbonising road transport, the interim King report says it is important to start reducing emissions in the short term, through development and implementation of improvements to established automotive technologies; emissions avoided now are more valuable than those saved later. This Review's analysis indicates that, by 2030, emissions per kilometre could be around 50% below 2000 levels. This would be partly offset by the projected increase in distance travelled, implying an overall reduction in UK emissions from car use of approximately 30% by 2030.

To achieve this goal substantial progress is needed across the board: cleaner fuels; more efficient vehicles; and smart driver choices.

The report considers all fuels based on their life-cycle CO2 emissions. From the “well” (or the equivalent energy source) to the “wheel”, different fuels result in CO2 emissions at different stages of their production, transport and use. Even conventional fuels, such as petrol and diesel, can be produced in a variety of ways, with very different CO2 impacts.

Biofuels, in moderation, are acknowledged to offer potential advantages over conventional fuels and can occupy part of the transport fuels market over the medium term. But the report says an over-reliance on biofuels, particularly in these early stages, could be counter-productive, putting the world's environmental resources under pressure. Globally, care needs to be taken not to over-expand biofuels demand before technological improvements and comprehensive sustainability safeguards are in place.

In the long term, carbon-free road transport fuel is the only way to achieve an 80-90% reduction in emissions. Given biofuels supply constraints, this will require a form of electric vehicle, with novel batteries, charged by “zero-carbon” electricity (or, possibly, hydrogen produced from zero-carbon sources).

Clean cars, notes the report, are dependent on clean power and, as the world moves towards electric vehicles, countries' road transport CO2 emissions will increasingly be determined by the composition of their power generation sector. Major changes in power generation therefore need to be delivered alongside the automotive technologies. Making progress on decarbonising power generation represents an even more urgent challenge than electric vehicle technologies because of the time it takes to implement. It is essential, says the King report, to take a system-wide perspective and to consider displacement effects and competition for power across sectors: ultimately, decarbonisation of road transport will require decarbonisation of power generation.

The report says that in the nearer term, considerable CO2 savings can be achieved through enhancements to conventional vehicle systems. Technology that can reduce CO2 emissions per car by 30% (on a like-for-like basis) is already close to market and could be standard within 5-10 years. Despite the likely vehicle cost increases (estimated at £1,000-£1,500 per new vehicle), many of these changes are likely to represent good economics to the purchaser, as a result of their impact on fuel economy. However, demand-side and supply-side barriers are currently delaying their deployment. Ensuring these technologies are quickly brought to market constitutes a major policy challenge and will have a major impact on emissions reductions from road transport in the coming years.

Cars that emit 50% less CO2 per kilometre than the equivalent current models could be on the road by 2030, subject to advances in hybrid and battery technologies and industry overcoming cost barriers. Longer term, vehicle technologies to enable a 90% reduction in per kilometre emissions, most likely based on battery-electric propulsion systems, are expected to be found feasible.

Achieving this maximum benefit, however, is dependent on very low-CO2 power generation.

The King report notes that the UK industry currently has strengths in engine manufacture, and high-tech vehicle and systems design and consultancy. There are opportunities for the UK to develop further in both licensing and supplying low-carbon technologies to the mass-market manufacturers, and as a leader in some areas of the electric vehicle market. Long term, with the right approach now, the UK could play a strong role in future electric systems, novel battery and energy storage solutions and in other areas such as biofuels development.

(http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/9/5/pbr_csr07_king840.pdf)

At a press conference ahead of last weekend’s Petit Le Mans 1000 mile round of the US based American Le Mans Series sportscar racing championship the series organisers announced plans to permit the use of E85 fuel and bio diesel beginning in 2008.

With the exception of the diesel engined Audi R10s, in 2007 all cars running in the ALMS have raced on E10 fuel comprising 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline. For 2008, as part of a plan to develop additional alternative fuels, E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) ethanol option and a bio diesel fuel will be permitted.

ALMS president Scott Atherton said, "We have been working very closely with several governmental and private organizations to confirm the American Le Mans Series' role in the future of leading-edge technologies for alternative fuels and green motorsports initiatives in general.

"At a time when there is an urgent worldwide demand for innovation and new technologies for automobiles, the American Le Mans Series, working in conjunction with our many participating manufacturers, is uniquely positioned to be part of the solution. In brief, the factory teams competing in the Series are developing technologies on the race track today that will soon be in the cars that we all drive on the street. It's a very exciting time, and as a racing series, we couldn't be in a stronger leadership position."