• FIA rejects McLaren appeal

• Contractor engaged to build Indian F1 circuit
• New F1 team owner to address business forum
• Careers advice on offer at London Motorsport Show
• NASCAR manufacturers welcome alternative fuel move
• Surtees joins Racing Steps Foundation
• IMechE racing tyres lecture
• Ken Livingstone announces Europe's largest fleet of hydrogen buses for London
• T&E study reveals increasing C02 emissions divide between Europe's carmakers
• JAMA publishes 2007 environmental report

• Ford forms 'Transformation Advisory Council'

• McLaren appeal hearing moved to London
• Renault admits having McLaren data
• Ecclestone holds espionage crisis meeting
• Brawn joins Honda
• Ferrari F1 management reshuffle
• 2008 Qatar MotoGP meeting to be held at night
• Penn State University research shows potential of ‘microbial fuel cells’ for hydrogen production
• Renault to launch Logan eco² concept at Shanghai Challenge Bibendum
• VW Group to assess suppliers’ carbon footprints

• Governor Schwarzenegger announces lawsuit against U.S. EPA for failing to act on California’s tailpipe emissions request

The Woking, UK based McLaren Mercedes Formula One teams appeal against the decision of the Brazilian Grand Prix stewards not to penalise cars from rival teams for irregularities in their fuel was rejected at a specially convened meeting of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council in London on Friday.

The WMSC upheld the steward’s decision that there was "sufficient doubt as to both the temperature of the fuel actually on board the car and the true ambient temperature as to render it inappropriate to impose a penalty."

To read the full text of the WMSC judgement http://www.fia.com/mediacentre/Press_Releases/FIA_Sport/2007/November/161107-01.html

Construction company Jaiprakash Associates Ltd based in Lucknow, India has signed a contract with Formula One Management to build a new race circuit on which it is planned to hold a Formula One Indian Grand Prix starting in 2010.

Under the terms of its 10 year contract JP Associates will build the circuit on a site at Greater Noida to the east of the Indian capital, New Delhi.

Indian businessman Vijay Mallya who recently bought the Silverstone, UK based Spyker MF1 Formula One team, renaming it Force India, has been invited to speak at the 2007 Motor Sport Business Forum which takes place in Monaco in December.

Mallya said, "A great many top executives from the world of global motorsport will be in Monaco and, from a business point of view, the Forum is the ideal place and time to introduce the Force India F1 concept to the great and good of the industry."

The 2007 London Motorsport Show will include a Future of Motorsport Zone in which leading organisations will be offering careers advice to wannabe drivers, car designers and race team organisers.

Supported by Learning Grid and the Motorsport Academy as well as F1 in Schools, Formula Student, UK Youth and Formula Schools, the FMZ will identify where people of all ages wanting a career in motorsport should start in terms of information, training courses, and work experience.

The zone will also involve Energy Efficient Motorsport (EEMS), Green Power and Oxin Design Challenge who will question and aim to educate people and companies already in the industry on how motorsport can become more environmentally sympathetic and create a better solution rather than be a part of the problem when it comes to the industry’s carbon footprint. Demonstrations, displays and seminars will highlight the opportunities available to individuals, teams and companies.

The London Motorsport Show takes place at ExCeL exhibition centre in London on December 8-9. For information and to book tickets, visit www.londonmotorsport.co.uk

Senior executives of Chevrolet Racing and Ford Racing Technology have welcomed the recent revelation by NASCAR CEO Brian France that the US stock car racing sanctioning body was considering the adoption of alternative fuels for its racing series.

Speaking to the Arizona Republic newspaper Terry Dolan, Chevy Racing manager, said, "We would be in full support of NASCAR's efforts to explore and develop a green series. We welcome the opportunity to share our technological expertise in alternative fuel powertrains currently developed for our production vehicles.

"There's no better way to raise the awareness of the energy and environmental benefits of E85 than through the excitement of NASCAR."

Dan Davis, director, Ford Racing Technology, said, "We're all for helping racing become greener. We've been looking at some green options in other forms of racing. We just have to understand what that means in terms of NASCAR. Is it using current automotive technology that will help the engines be more efficient, or is it experimenting with bio-fuels down the road?

"The key thing we believe is that if there is movement toward making the sport greener, then it needs to be done with the long-term future of the automotive industry and the racing industry in mind. We also need to do it in a measured way that won't be a major financial burden on the teams or the manufacturers. And, lastly we need to do it in a way that will work with NASCAR's fuel partner and fits into their long-term strategy. We'd like to be part of the process, that's for sure."

Former Formula One World Drivers Champion John Surtees has agreed to take on the role of ambassador for the Racing Steps Foundation which is a new initiative has set up to help young drivers realise their dreams.

RSF will help a small number of young drivers whose talent may not be realised due to lack of funds and will will see them through three levels; karting, Formula Renault and Formula 3. The RSF believes that this way they can help up to four talented drivers progress through the junior formulae without having to worry about costs.

RSF founder, Graham Sharp said, "I have always been a dedicated car racing fan and I recognise the struggles many young British hopefuls have in terms of advancing their craft all the way to Formula 1. With the RSF, we intend to find the most talented drivers at an early stage and if they're ambitious and focused but are being frustrated by a shortage of funds, we will help them."

In 2008 Carlin Motorsport will be the Formula 3 entrant and Fortec Motorsport for Formula Renault, the karting beneficiary has yet to be named.

The Midlands Automotive Division of the UK’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers has organised a lecture on the subject of racing tyres.

Titled ‘Racing Tyres - Fundamental Characteristics and Practical Testing Methods’, the lecture will be delivered by Ben Michell, Senior Analyst - Advanced Engineering at Dunlop Motorsport and takes place at Coventry University on December 4.

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has announced that ten new hydrogen powered buses will join London's bus fleet by 2010. Transport for London has signed a contract with the American company ISE for five hydrogen fuel cell buses and five hydrogen internal combustion engine buses which will be operated by First on behalf of Transport for London.

The contract signed with ISE is for £9.65 million. This covers the initial cost of the vehicles themselves and maintenance and replacement parts for five years from delivery. ISE will be working with sub-contractors including The Wright Group, a bus manufacturer based in Northern Ireland, and Ballard Power Systems. The Department for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform has provided a grant of £2.6 million towards Transport for London's hydrogen bus programme.

The 'well to wheel' CO2 emissions for both types of bus will be calculated after delivery, when the volume of hydrogen required to power the buses in operation has been confirmed. 'Well to wheel' emissions levels take into consideration the production or extraction processes used in procuring the fuel, as well as the emissions produced by vehicles in operation. The reductions in carbon dioxide emissions compared to a diesel bus are expected to be 50% for the fuel cell buses and 20% for the i.c.e. buses.

TfL expects to have chosen a hydrogen refuelling supplier on board early in 2008.

This project compliments the activities of the Hydrogen Bus Alliance (www.hydrogenbusalliance.org), which TfL was integral in setting up. The Alliance comprises representatives from the public transport authorities of international cities and regions that have demonstrated a clear commitment to hydrogen technology. Each member of the Alliance has made a commitment to buy at least five new hydrogen buses to begin operating between 2008 and 2012.

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc. has just published the Japanese edition of its 2007 Report on Environmental Protection Efforts, an overview of the environmental protection measures adopted by the Japanese automobile industry. An English edition is currently in preparation.

The Japanese vehicle manufacturers’ most significant advances in environmental performance in fiscal 2006 included:

- The early achievement of vehicle fuel-economy targets; the average fuel-efficiency performance of new petrol cars reached 16.0 km/l, exceeding the target of 15.1 km/l established for 2010.

- The expanded introduction of low-emission cars; cars certified in Japan as low-emission vehicles now constitute 95% of all new cars in the market. Of that share, 90% comprises models whose emissions are down either by 75% (a 4-star rating) or by 50% (a 3-star rating) from 2005 emission standards.

- Advances in end-of-life vehicle recycling; the recycling rate of vehicle shredder residue (ASR) now stands between 63.7% and 75.0%, surpassing the 50% target rate set for fiscal 2010.

- Manufacturers have met the latest targets for the reduction of CO2 and VOC emissions and waste matter in plant operations.

JAMA’s Japanese-language 2007 environmental report is available at www.jama.or.jp/eco/wrestle/eco_report/

French, Italian and Japanese car manufacturers extended their lead over their German counterparts last year in terms of fuel efficiency and low emissions, according to sales-weighted CO2 figures published on 14 November by Transport and Environment (T&E), the European sustainable transport campaign group. German groups actually increased emissions of CO2 from new cars sold in 2006 by 0.6% on average, while French and Italian groups cut emissions by an average of 1.6%.

French, Italian and Japanese car manufacturers extended their lead over their German counterparts last year in terms of fuel efficiency and low emissions, according to sales-weighted CO2 figures published on 14 November by Transport and Environment (T&E), the European sustainable transport campaign group. German groups actually increased emissions of CO2 from new cars sold in 2006 by 0.6% on average. In contrast, French and Italian groups cut emissions by an average of 1.6%.

Despite the overall increase in emissions from German producers, BMW reduced average emissions by 2.5% but that was more than offset by Daimler and Volkswagen, which saw increases of 2.8% and 0.9% respectively. Only groups that sold over 200,000 vehicles in Europe in 2006 were included in the study.

The figures, based on sales in Europe in 2006, are derived from official EU monitoring data obtained by T&E under laws granting access to official documents. T&E commissioned the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) in London to analyse the data.

Japanese manufacturers made significant progress in 2006, achieving 2.8% cuts on average. According to the EU data, Toyota made the biggest improvement of any major car manufacturing group in 2006 with the average vehicle sold in 2006 emitting 153 g/km, 5% less CO2 than the previous year.

PSA Peugeot Citroën (142 g/km), Fiat SpA (144 g/km) and Renault SA (147 g/km) sold Europe's lowest emitting cars in 2006 on average. Toyota (153 g/km) and Honda (154 g/km) took fourth and fifth places. DaimlerChrysler came bottom of the list of major carmakers with average emissions of 188 g/km.

Jos Dings, director of T&E, said: “Europe needs CO2 standards that mean fuel efficiency comes built in, not as an optional extra. Launching one or two 'eco' models is not enough to meet the challenges of climate change, rising fuel prices and Europe's increasing dependence on imported oil."

T&E notes that for three reasons this latest report/ranking is not comparable with a similar study published by T&E in October 2006, “How clean is your car brand?'. That was based on EU15 sales data, while this study is based on EU25 data minus Latvia, Malta and Poland (which together account for less than 2% of the EU market). Further, the 2006 study ranked car brands, while this study ranks car manufacturer groups (companies), and is based on a different data source.

(www.transportenvironment.org/docs/Publications/2007/2007-11_car_company_co2_report.pdf)

Ford Motor Co’s new 'Transformation Advisory Council' will bring together senior Ford executives and outside sustainability 'thought leaders' to explore solutions to the challenges of energy independence and the threat of global warming.

Chairman Bill Ford announced the council's formation on 13th November as he presented the seventh annual Peter M. Wege Lecture on Sustainability at the University of Michigan. The Transformation Advisory Council's initial external members will include:

- Amory Lovins, the well-known thinker on resource use and the future of business and society. Lovins is chairman and chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute.

- Paul Hawken, an environmentalist, entrepreneur and author who has dedicated his life to sustainability issues and the relationship between business and the environment.

- Peter Senge, an authority on systems thinking and organizational learning, and senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the founding chair of the Society for Organizational Learning.

Due to the current industrial unrest in Paris, the venue of the FIA World Motor Sport Council’s hearing of an appeal by the Woking, UK based McLaren-Mercedes Formula One team has been moved to London.

The hearing will take place as scheduled on Thursday and will consider McLaren’s appeal against the decision of the Brazilian Grand Prix stewards not to penalise cars from rival teams for irregularities in their fuel.

The Woking, UK based McLaren-Mercedes team lodged its appeal after the Brazilian race when it was revealed the fuel samples taken from BMW Sauber cars and Williams-Toyotas were outside temperature limits and which can affect car performance. If the appeal is upheld and the rival cars are excluded from the result, it is possible that McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton could move up to fourth place and thus score enough points to win the drivers championship.

The Enstone, UK based Renault Sport Formula One team has issued a statement in which it admitted that it had received proprietary technical data relating to the rival McLaren teams 2006 F1 car after it recruited a former member of that team.

The statement reads, “Following the notification of the FIA for the ING Renault F1

Team representatives to appear in front of the World Council, the team wishes to clarify the situation.

“On the 6th September 2007 it came to our attention that an engineer (Mr Phil Mackereth) who joined the team from McLaren in Sept 2006 had brought with him some information that was considered to be proprietary to McLaren. This information was contained on old style floppy discs and included copies of some McLaren engineering drawings and some technical spreadsheets.

“This information was loaded at the request of Mr Mackereth onto his personal directory on the Renault F1 Team file system. This was done without the knowledge of anyone in authority in the team. As soon as the situation was brought to the attention of the team's technical management, the following actions were taken:

“The information was completely cleansed from the team's computer systems and a formal investigation was started. We promptly informed McLaren of the situation and immediately after the FIA.

“Since then we have constantly and regularly kept McLaren and the FIA informed on all relevant findings.

“Mr Mackereth was immediately suspended from his position. The original floppy discs were impounded and sent to our solicitors for return to McLaren.

“Our formal investigation showed that early in his employment with Renault Mr Mackereth made some of our engineers aware of parts of this information in the form of a few reduced scale engineering drawings. These drawings covered four basic systems as used by McLaren and were: the internal layout of the fuel tank, the basic layout of the gear clusters, a tuned mass damper and a suspension damper.

“Subsequent witness statements from the engineers involved have categorically stated that having been briefly shown these drawings, none of this information was used to influence design decisions relating to the Renault car. In the particular case of the tuned mass damper, these had already been deemed illegal by the FIA and therefore the drawing was of no value.

“The suspension damper drawing hinted that the McLaren design might be similarly considered illegal and a subsequent clarification from the FIA confirmed this based upon our crude interpretation of the concept.

“ING Renault F1 Team have co-operated fully with McLaren and the FIA in this matter to the extent that the team has invited McLaren's independent experts to come and assess the team's computer systems and inspect the cars and the design records, to demonstrate that this unfortunate incident has not in anyway influenced the design of the cars.

“ING Renault F1 Team have acted with complete transparency towards McLaren and the FIA, being proactive in solving this matter and we are fully confident in the judgment of the World Council.”

Representatives of the Renault F1 Team have been summoned to appear before a hearing of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Monaco on December 6.

In September the McLaren team was fined $100m (£47.5m) and forfeited their points in the 2007 F1 Constructors World Championship points after it was found guilty of being in possession of confidential information on the rival Ferrari team’s 2007 car.

According to a report in the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper Formula One impresario Bernie Ecclestone last week held a ‘crisis meeting’ at his London office to determine the extent of an apparent industrial espionage culture in F1.

The Telegraphs story says that representatives from each team, apart from Ferrari, McLaren and Renault, who are currently involved in espionage cases, attended the meeting and that the F1 teams will agree to internal investigations being carried out with the aim of ending such ‘spying’ allegations.

British engineer Ross Brawn has joined the Brackley, UK based Honda Racing Formula One organisation as its new team principal, with effect from the end of November.

Brawn was previously the technical director at the rival Ferrari Formula One team based in Maranello, Italy, a position he held for ten years until the end of 2006 when he decided to take a sabbatical year out of F1 in 2007.

Working alongside Honda Racing CEO Nick Fry, Brawn will be responsible for the design, manufacture and engineering the team's 2008 car.

Brawn said, "I am very excited to be joining the Honda Racing F1 Team. Honda has a proud heritage in Formula One and the opportunity to help the team to realise its potential represents a fantastic new challenge for me in the sport.

"The team has already done a great job of giving due consideration to its future and has spent a good deal of time putting in place both people and first class engineering resources to achieve its ambitions. I look forward to working alongside what I know to be some very talented people and helping Honda to rediscover its winning ways."

Fry said, "Today's announcement that Ross Brawn is to join our team is a very satisfying conclusion to the process of refreshing and revitalising a strong and determined team. Ross obviously needs no introduction.

"His experience of winning world championships in Formula One will be crucial as we seek to put Honda back into championship contention and I am delighted that we will be working together to achieve that."

The Maranello, Italy based sportscar manufacturer Ferrari has confirmed that Stefano Domenicali will take over as the director of its Gestione Sportiva (competition department) starting in January 2008.

Ferrari also confirmed the appointment of key posts in its Formula One team. Mario Almondo is the new director of operations, Aldo Costa is the new technical director and Gilles Simon the new director of the engine department.

The opening round of the 2008 MotoGP motorcycle racing world championship at the Losail circuit in Qatar next March will become the first MotoGP event to take place at night under floodlights.

The night race was given the go ahead by MotoGP series promoter Dorna following a successful test under the lights on Monday which included a simulated power failure in which a back-up power system was activated.

So-called ‘microbial fuel cells’ can turn almost any biodegradable organic material into hydrogen gas, according to a research paper by Bruce Logan, a civil engineering professor, and colleague Shaoan Cheng at Penn State University published in the Proceedings of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. The two scientists have filed a patent for the process that their paper describes.

"This is a method of using renewable organic matter, using anything that's biodegradable and being able to generate hydrogen from that material," Prof. Logan told a Reuters/Planet Ark reporter this week.

Logan and Cheng used naturally-occurring bacteria in an electrolysis cell with acetic acid. The bacteria absorb the acetic acid and release electrons and protons, creating up to 0.3 volts of electricity. When a more electricity is added from an external source, hydrogen gas is produced, using about 10% of the energy required by hydrolysis, where an electric charge is run through water to break it down into its constituent parts of oxygen and hydrogen. The bacteria do most of the work, breaking the organic material into subatomic particles.

The process could be used with cellulose, glucose, acetate or other volatile acids, according to Prof. Logan said. The only emission is water, and the microbial reactors could, for example, be operated using waste water from food processing plants and other sites where waste water is treated.

(www.engr.psu.edu/ce/enve/logan.htm)

Renault is introducing the Logan eco² Concept, an experimental vehicle which will contest the 2007 Michelin-organised Challenge Bibendum in Shanghai. The car produces 97 g/km of CO2 emissions, and to qualify for the Renault eco² appellation, complies with three criteria common to all its eco² range, which covers 40% of its complete model range:

- They must emit less than 140g of CO2/km or else run on biofuel,

- They must be manufactured in an ISO 14001-certified factory,

- They must be 95% end-of-life reusable, and at least 5% of the plastics used in their production must be sourced from recycling.

The Logan eco² was manufactured at the Pitesti Dacia plant in Romania, which has been ISO 14001-certified since 2005, while the finished vehicle contains 8.3% of recycled plastics and is 95%-reusable by weight.

Volkswagen will expect its suppliers to become greener, Robert Brescia, Chief Logistics Officer, Volkswagen of America told a U.S. Automotive Logistics conference reported by SupplerBusiness.com: “We expect suppliers to be culturally compatible with the strategy of VW group now and in the future … Our new set of criteria for supplier selection globally and regionally includes a carbon footprint measure.”

VW’s U.S. subsidiary recently announced a partnership with Carbonfund.org, under which the carbon emissions from every new VW sold in the US between 1st September 2007 and 2nd January 2008 will be offset for a year.

Governor Schwarzenegger of California has announced that California has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to act on California’s tailpipe emissions waiver request. The Governor put the federal government on notice six months ago saying such a lawsuit would be filed if the U.S. EPA continued to delay action on California’s request for authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions for cars and light trucks sold in the state.

Following the filing of California’s lawsuit against the U.S. EPA today, fourteen other U.S. states will be announcing that they are joining California in the lawsuit.

They include: Massachusetts, New York, Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Under the Federal Clean Air Act, California has the right to set its own tougher-than-federal vehicle emission standards as long as it obtains a waiver from U.S. EPA. Over the past 30 years the U.S. EPA has granted California more than 40 such waivers, denying none.

The original request for a waiver of federal preemption of California's Motor Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards was made by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) on December 21, 2005 after a llaw was passed that required California to establish new standards for motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions beginning in model year 2009. The CARB-adopted regulations will phase in and ramp up over eight years to cut greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles by nearly 30% by model year 2016.

By implementing these standards, California would be eliminating greenhouse gases equivalent to taking 6.5 million cars off the road by the year 2020. If all the other states with similar plans follow through, that figure would grow to nearly 22 million vehicles and would cut U.S. gasoline consumption by an estimated 11 billion gallons a year.

California’s request has been supported by recent judicial decisions. In September, a court decision in Vermont confirmed that states do have the ability to adopt California’s motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards. That decision came on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last April that the U.S. EPA has the authority (which it had contested) to regulate greenhouse gases.

States that have adopted, or are in the process of adopting, California’s vehicle emissions standards are: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and Washington.

- As Governor Schwarzenegger acted on his threat to sue the EPA, U.S. House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi was reported to be pushing for a vote on energy legislation, including new vehicle emissions standards, on 16th November, before Congress’s Thanksgiving recess. Mrs Pelosi was reported by the Detroit News’ Washington correspondent to have won the commitment to work on emissions and energy legislation from Dearborn Congressman John Dingell, who had advocated as less stringent fuel economy standard than that of the Senate bill which Mrs Pelosi has supported, which calls for a 40% increase in fuel economy by 2020 to a combined 35 mpg for both cars and light trucks.

An alternative proposal backed by Ford, GM, Chrysler and Toyota called "Hill-Terry" retains separate and longer-term mpg targets for cars and light trucks, ranging between 32 mpg and 35 mpg by 2022.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration reportedly plans to issue its own proposed regulations on vehicle CO2 emissions by the end of the year, through joint regulations issued by the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

(California government, Detroit News, 9 November)