• EU urges ‘greening’ of F1
• F1 engine freeze reduced to five years, aero limits rejected
• ALMS ups Green ante
• Works Corvettes to race on E85 in ALMS
• Welsh winners in F1 in Schools UK final
• Rally Ireland boost Republic economy
• European Parliament votes to give more time for manufacturers to reach softer CO2 target
• ACEA organises ‘eco-driving’ training sessions during EU’s Sustainable Energy Week
• American Le Mans Series announces biofuels and hybrid initiatives in association with EPA, DOE and SAE International
• Automotive X PRIZE contenders shown at Detroit Auto Show

A European Parliament report entitled CARS 21 calling for changes within the automotive industry to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions also includes a reference to ways in which Formula One can change attitudes towards green technologies.

The findings of the report were adopted after a vote in which 607 MEPs were in favour, 76 were against the proposals and 14 abstained. A statement issued after the vote contained the following passage, "MEPs recognise the role motor sport can play in changing attitudes and customer behaviour towards environmentally friendly technology.

"The House therefore asks the FIA and others involved in Formula One to change their rules accordingly, so that environmentally friendly technologies like bio-fuels, four-cylinder engines or hybrid can be more easily applied."

A statement issued by FIA president Max Mosley welcomed the report saying, “It is immensely satisfying that the European Parliament recognises the role motor sport can play in the advancement of green technologies and supports the work undertaken by the FIA in its policy campaigning to make motoring more sustainable in the future.

"With the support of the motor manufacturers competing in Formula One and, with the engineering expertise unique to the sport, we hope that new technical regulations will encourage a transfer of energy efficient technologies into the domestic car market for the wider benefit of society."

Last Friday’s meeting between the FIA and representatives of the teams competing in the Formula One World Championship resulted in an agreement to shorten the previously announced ten year freeze on F1 engine development to five years and confirmed plans to further discuss cost cutting measures including budget capping as a matter of urgency.

Recently announced proposals to severely limit aerodynamic development by restricting the use of wind tunnels and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) were rejected by the teams.

The organisers of the American Le Mans Series have announced a partnership with the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Department of Energy and SAE International to incorporate "green racing" principles into its 2008 racing season. The American Le Mans Series will be the first motorsports series to meet the criteria for green racing being developed by these groups.

The ALMS organisers also announced the creation of a first-ever, Series-wide Green Racing Challenge. This new competition will encourage manufacturers to introduce and develop their "green" technologies and will be an incremental element of the Series' signature event - the 1,000-mile Petit Le Mans race to be held Oct. 4 at Road Atlanta. Protocols and criteria for the Green Racing Challenge award are being developed by the EPA and DOE along with SAE International and the Series, and will be announced later this spring.

The criteria set by SAE in concert with the EPA and DoE to qualify as a Green Racing series requires that certain elements in a series be present. These elements focus on three vital characteristics that measure performance, fuel efficiency and ecological impact. They include:

The use of renewable bio-based fuel or fuels.

The use of multiple engines, fuels and powertrain configurations.

The use of regenerative energy powertrain technologies.

The use of well-to-wheel energy analysis and GHG analysis.

The use of emission control strategies and systems.

ALMS president and CEO Scott Atherton said, "The auto manufacturers competing in the American Le Mans Series have made it very clear that this is a direction and an overall initiative that is important to them. The opportunity to formally align with the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy and SAE International makes our platform very special and unique - to auto manufacturers and ultimately to consumers. At a time when nearly all of motorsports has lost its relevance regarding progressive technology or any connection from the race track to the showroom floor, the American Le Mans Series stands alone in providing a platform of solutions for our nation's automotive, transportation and energy needs.

"This partnership between government and industry to use the American Le Mans Series as an incubator to accelerate the development of new, relevant and practical automotive technologies that will use less fuel and emit fewer greenhouse gasses and air pollutants further emphasizes the American Le Mans Series as the global leader in this important area.

"This support by EPA and DOE in conjunction with the SAE comes at a time when manufacturers and consumers alike are looking for 'green' solutions. We are the only series in which manufacturers can aggressively develop breakthrough technologies for automobiles that consumers will ultimately buy and drive, reinforcing the American Le Mans Series as the most relevant racing series in the world."

The General Motors factory backed Corvette Racing sportscar racing team has confirmed that it will use E85 ethanol fuel when it defends its championship title in the GT1 class of the 2008 American Le Mans Series.

Corvette Racing won its seventh consecutive GT1 manufacturers and team championships in 2007 using the ALMS series spec E10 (10 percent ethanol) fuel.

Speaking after the announcement at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Chevrolet general manager Ed Pepper said, "Since its inception, Corvette has always been a platform for Chevrolet and GM to introduce and develop new technology. Like the Corvette Z06 E85 concept car that will pace the 2008 Indianapolis 500, the use of E85 ethanol fuel by America's premier production sports car racing team in a high-profile, high-tech racing series like the ALMS shows that Chevy is continuing to lead by example.

"By showcasing the capabilities of E85 ethanol before an audience of knowledgeable and technically astute race fans, we can demonstrate the benefits of a renewable fuel that helps to reduce dependence on petroleum, helps to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, and helps to create greater diversity in energy supplies.

"Of course, performance is what counts in racing, so E85 ethanol's higher octane rating than gasoline wasn't overlooked by the Corvette Racing engineers."

‘Blaze’, a student team from Ynysawdre School, Bridgend, Wales were crowned UK champions at the National Finals of the F1 in Schools Formula One Technology Challenge, held at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham’s NEC last weekend.

The aspiring Formula One designers of the future developed their own scale model racing car for the Challenge, putting in over 300 hours of work each to realise their dream of producing a winning F1 car a process that included designing the car with CAD software, manufacturing it using CNC technology, and testing it on their own test track. Blaze team manager Patrick Pang said, “We’re over the moon! We’ve put a lot of effort into our car for this year’s Challenge and we’ve got the best reward we could get. The standard is really high and we didn’t think we’d get the overall title today, so we’re really pleased. We won the Welsh title last year, but this is a really big accolade and we just can’t believe it.”

The Ynysawdre school team wins a place in the 2009 World Championships, which will be held alongside an international Formula 1 Grand Prix in 200 at which teams from 20 countries around the globe will compete to win the Bernie Ecclestone World Championship Trophy and a scholarship at City University London to study Automotive Engineering.

This year’s search for the best young engineering talent in the UK took the judges around the country with 11 regional finals and around 2000 students participating in the Challenge which aims to encourage students to consider engineering as a career choice. Andrew Denford, the founder and chairman of the F1 in Schools Technology Challenge said, “Every year the standard gets higher, the students produce more sophisticated designs and presentations and show tremendous engineering understanding, at a very early age. Their knowledge and experience of using advanced CAD software will undoubtedly give them a head start for an engineering-based career.

“F1 in Schools showcases the prospective engineering talent that we have in this country. By nurturing it with programmes such as this, we can sustain the UK engineering industry and hopefully we’re also seeing the next generation of Formula One designers in this Technology Challenge; youngsters to follow in the footsteps of successful industry personalities such as Ross Brawn, Adrian Newey, Mike Gascoyne and the other technical directors in Formula One.”

According to research carried out by the University of Ulster last November’s on Rally Ireland round of the FIA World Rally Championship was worth 48 million euros (£36 million pounds) to the economy of the Irish Republic.

The UoU research says that more than 250,000 spectators attended the border event making it the largest attended sporting event ever hosted in Ireland.

The research project, which involved random spectators in both the North and the South completing a questionnaire on the event, was managed by Dr David Hassan and Dr Douglas McCulloch.

Dr Hassan said, 'In many ways Rally Ireland 2007, indeed the entire concept, is a remarkable testimony to what can be achieved by people of foresight and ambition. The fact that an event of such global significance can be hosted in one of the most economically deprived regions in western Europe is all the more

significant. At the University of Ulster we have been working with institutions across the world to improve the reporting processes associated with major motor sport events. In this regard we're pleased that Rally Ireland remains amongst the leading rallies in the World Rally Championship in this regard.'

Due to the FIA’s new biennial WRC calendar format the next Rally Ireland will take place in 2009 start January 29 in Belfast and finishing on February 1 in Sligo.

Among the votes at the European Parliament’s plenary session yesterday,15th January, a report on the CARS 21 Competitive Automotive Regulatory Framework was adopted by 607 votes in favour to 76 against with 14 abstentions, with amendments. But MEPs voted by a majority against the European Commission’s proposals for an average new-car CO2 limit of 120 g/km by 2012 and for a limit of 125 g/km by 2015.

Elements in the European Parliament, including the automotive group co-led by West Midlands Tory MEP Malcolm Harbour, have promised to seek a less stringent CO2 emissions regime in the course of the next few months. The eventual regime will be approved by a majority of EU member states and a simple majority of the European Parliament.

(Europarl.eu, Reuters/Planet Ark, 15th January)

The European automotive industry association (ACEA) will organise ‘eco-driving’ training sessions during the European Union Sustainable Energy Week EUSEW 2008 in Brussels, together with a body called ECODRIVEN, on the second floor of the main exhibition area in the Charlemagne Building, rue de la Loi, 170 BE - 1040 Bruxelles, from January 28 to February 1.

Two-seater simulators will enable participants to test their driving skills and help them learn how to make a better use of their car, reduce fuel consumption and consequently emit less CO2. An instructor will lead participants on a virtual car journey both in a city area and in the countryside.

Each personal session will take no more than 10 minutes; pre-registration to the simulations is not necessary. To take part in the EUSEW, however, you need to register at www.eusew.eu/index.cfm. Registration is free.

ACEA will collect data on the progress all participants will have made and the results will be announced on Friday February1, at the ACEA seminar “Towards Sustainable Mobility”.

(See www.eusew.eu/page.cfm?page=events&selEvent=195 for an up-to-date programme and location.)

The American Le Mans Series is partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Energy and SAE International to incorporate "green racing" principles into its 2008 racing season.

The American Le Mans Series features exotic prototype and production-based sports cars competing in four different classes on the track at the same time. The Series has more automobile manufacturers competing head-to-head than any other series in the world. All cars in the Series compete on alternative fuels. For the last two seasons, Audi has competed with a diesel car.

Last year, the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) and fuel supplier VP Racing Fuels introduced E10 (10% ethanol, 90% gasoline) to all other manufacturers who raced in the Series. This season, the Series in conjunction with EPIC will introduce E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) as one of its fuel options.

American Le Mans Series rules also support the introduction of an electric hybrid race car and encourage manufacturers to develop new technologies (through racing) that can be applied to improve the cars built for consumers.

Besides Audi, other marques that currently participate in the American Le Mans Series include Acura, Aston Martin, Corvette, Dodge, Ferrari, Ford, Mazda, Panoz, Porsche and Saleen.

The Automotive X PRIZE, the $10m-plus competition designed to inspire a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles, is releasing a Request for Proposal (RFP) to U.S. cities interested in hosting a stage of the 2009-2010 race competition at the current North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The Automotive X PRIZE is showing the innovations of its early entrants at their booth during the show.

The Automotive X PRIZE, which was created to help break the world’s addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change, is an independent and technology-neutral competition, open to teams from around the world who can design, build and bring to market 100 mpg-equivalent vehicles that people want to buy, and that meet market needs for price, size, capability, safety and performance.

To date, more than fifty teams from seven countries have signed Letters of Intent to compete and the Automotive X PRIZE continues to solicit additional teams to enter the competition. Prospective teams will remain able to register for at least the next 60 days.

Once the competition launches - in early 2008 - those who qualify will embark on a rigorous cross-country race that combines speed, distance, urban driving and overall performance in 2009-2010. The winners will need to exceed 100 mpg-equivalent fuel economy, fall under strict emissions caps and finish in the fastest time.

The racing segment of the Automotive X PRIZE is expected to travel through ten U.S. cities while being broadcast to a global audience in 2009 and 2010.

To date, the Automotive X PRIZE has received support and encouragement from several government agencies that will help the privately funded organisation conduct the competition and test vehicle compliance, including the U.S. Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory; the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway, Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA); the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ); and the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

Non-governmental organisations supporting the Automotive X PRIZE include the National Wildlife Federation, National Resources Defense Council, Union of Concerned Scientists, the Apollo Alliance, the Consumer Federation of America, Global Green USA, CALSTART and Greenpeace among others.

For more details on the Competition Guidelines or to view a list of the 50-plus teams that have signed a letter of intent to compete, visit http://auto.xprize.org.