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What is EEMS

Since 2004, the EEMS programme has been working in the UK motorsport industry with a mission to put energy efficiency at the heart of modern motorsport. It has done this by raising awareness of the issues of energy efficiency and sustainable technologies. The programme has also provided support for a range of projects that demonstrate the use of these technologies in competition.

The growing success being achieved by the UK motorsport industry clearly shows that energy efficient and green research and development can bring technological advances, commercial benefits and can be compatible with the spectacle of exciting motorsport.

Over the years, EEMS has supported projects which showcase sustainable fuels in Le Mans sportscars, the British GT Championship, the British Touring Car Championship, truck racing and motorcycle racing, as well as the development of hybrid technology in national rallies, the development of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) and electric competition vehicles. As these projects score podiums, fastest speeds and wins to prove their competitiveness, perceptions within the sport are changing towards a readiness to adopt sustainable technologies, prompting discussion about the future of the sport.

Behind the scenes, EEMS works with championships to encourage putting energy efficiency at the heart of modern motorsport competition. A major fuel flow meter study showed that it is possible to create equivalency for differing energy sources within championships. The 2007 Future Fuels conference created interest among competitors and championship organisers. Advisory technical factsheets for motorsport competitors have been published on the use of bioethanol and biodiesel, with another to follow on hybrid/indexKERS technology. EEMS also recently sponsored a new low-carbon category in the 2008 Formula Student competition.

Over sixty EEMS Campaign Partners embrace energy efficiency as part of their motorsport activities, receiving the regular EEMS newsletter and networking opportunities, with some successful new partnerships formed as a result. The EEMS website provides a resource for both EEMS and industry-related news items.

As well as reducing environmental impact and safeguarding resources by adopting energy efficiency, motorsport can provide a superb opportunity to develop sustainable technologies of great interest to other industries such as road transport, marine, aviation and defence. Rapid prototyping and testing under the intense pressure of competition forces the pace of development and demands high standards of manufacture, while the highly visible nature of the sport also provides a showcase to demonstrate and prove these technologies and bring investment to the industry.

For more information, see the EEMS website eemsonline.co.uk

Energy Efficient Motorsport, Momenta, DIDCOT OX11 0QJ
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The concept of Energy Efficient Motorsport (EEMS) has been discussed within the UK motorsport industry for a number of years.  It seeks to place a premium on the efficient use of resources and to encourage the development of alternative fuels and powertrain technologies and put energy efficiency at the heart of modern motorsport – without comprising the sporting spectacle.

Over the next 10 years the automotive industry will have to meet the challenge of complying with increasingly demanding environmental legislation.   It is already widely accepted that non-fossil fuel based solutions are needed if future legislative targets for energy consumption and reduced emissions by motor vehicles are to be met.  There is no doubt that the competitive and highly skilled engineers involved in motorsport can make an invaluable contribution towards creating solutions. Marketing and public relations opportunities will also result from this.

There is a widely held belief that energy efficiency and green technology are not compatible with exciting motorsport.  This is simply not the case – in fact the UK motorsport industry stands to benefit considerably by adopting EEMS concepts and taking a leading global role.

For the EEMS concept to become a reality, it will be necessary to engage UK motorsport and its suppliers, the automotive industry and its suppliers, fuel Companies and government in a common vision. One that will embrace alternative fuels and engine technologies and start to provide car manufacturers with new solutions to the problem of meeting increased fuel efficiency targets.

The EEMS project will create opportunities for alternative fuels. How EEMS evolves and progresses in the future will depend on how manufacturers, teams and competitors take up these opportunities.

In 2002 the Motorsport Industry Association (MIA), sponsored by the UK motorsport industry, the UK Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) and the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in the UK’s Motorsport Valley, published a feasibility study that gathered together some of the best thinking on EEMS.  This document explained why it is important that the UK motorsport industry embraces the concept of EEMS if it is to remain relevant to the future of the larger automotive industry.  Included in the report were proposals that considered how EEMS concepts might be adopted for competition.

The inaugural and hugely successful Clean Racing Conference, again organised by the MIA, which was held in Birmingham, followed this in October 2003.

During 2003 the Motorsport Competitiveness Panel, convened by Patricia Hewitt, UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, considered how Government could effectively help the UK motorsport industry maintain its position as the leading worldwide cluster for motorsport engineering and innovation.  It identified several important initiatives, one of which was EEMS, and recommended the setting up of a Motorsport Development UK (MDUK) to oversee the development of these ideas.

MDUK, established at the end of 2003, is comprised of influential figures drawn from across the industry.  A £16 million allocation of Government funding was made available to establish and finance projects designed to develop and enhance the UK motorsport industry.  The EEMS project now falls under the control of the MDUK and has received funding from the overall allocation.

The EEMS Project Team, established in February 2004, is currently engaged in a review of past activities and the creation of new strategic options for the future. It aims to encourage the automotive industry to view motorsport not only as a driving force for the development of its future energy efficient technologies but also as an ideal marketing platform to promote their low emission, fuel efficient vehicles.

The clear long term objective for EEMS is to engage the automotive industry in using motorsport to accelerate the development and public acceptance of alternative “green” automotive technologies. 

At present motorsport regulations typically do not cater for teams or manufacturers wishing to run cars on alternative (non-fossil based) fuels or cars featuring novel technologies aimed at increasing efficiency.

In the UK, the EEMS Project Team is developing ideas for a new approach to motorsport technical regulations that will allow cars powered by different fuels and with different engine configurations, to compete on an equal footing.

By allowing cars using alternative fuels to genuinely compete with gasoline fuelled cars motorsport can do much to accelerate the acceptance of these fuels and technologies by the public. By showing that one does not have to sacrifice performance with a low emission vehicle motorsport could help to dispel some of the negative connotations that exist with the general perception of ‘green’ vehicles.

There is a range of alternative fuels and technologies available now that can be realistically in motorsport by devising suitable technical regulations. 

A new relationship needs to be developed between the between the automotive and motorsport industries based on shared goals that have direct relevance to real world problems.

It is the vision of the Project Team that by 2010 EEMS will be a major feature of UK motorsport and the concept will have been exported to other countries.

Targets include the following:

• At least one high profile UK championship to be running to fuel flow based engine regulations, which will allow considerable technical freedom for engineers to develop race winning fuel efficient and environmentally friendly technologies. 
• OEM’s from around the world to be working in partnership with UK motorsport companies to compete in championships based on EEMS concepts. 
• Cars using different fuels and engine technologies to be racing competitively in the same championship.  Hybrid engines and energy storage systems to be seen in the same race events.
• Gasoline to no longer be seen as the only fuel capable of delivering high performance and high efficiency.  Motorsport competitors to be using a range of alternative fuels including bio-fuels made from wholly renewable resources. 
• High performance Eco Record Breaking, focussed on one or two annual events. 

The adoption of technical regulations that place energy efficiency and the development of alternative fuels and engine technologies at the heart of motorsports competition is not really a leap into the unknown or a major philosophical change.  Neither does this imply that the essence of exciting high-speed competition will be removed from the sport. Instead these advances will provide a high profile and exciting marketing and technology platform that showcases the latest green technology.

To download the 2009 EEMS brochure, please click here (3.2Mg).