Transportation has been a leading source of carbon emissions globally. However, with growing concern from people around the world, changes have been seen in recent efforts by governments and private sectors around the world to help combat our collective climate crisis. In a sport fronted by cars, the expectation would be that they’re completely unsustainable and clinging onto their carbon-filled fuels.

However, in many ways, F1 is leading by example for other sport leagues to follow suit in their journey to a more sustainable future. F1 aims to have all sustainable fuels in their racecars by 2026 as well as the league having net zero carbon by 2030. Not only are the league’s goals lofty, but they’re actively making strides to achieve them in a timely manner.

The league is already using E10 fuel, a mix of sustainable and traditional fuels to power their cars on track. The E10 fuel contains 10% of a high-quality sustainable ethanol.

However, starting in 2026, their fuels will be modified to fit their sustainability goals.

These new fuels are made of a variety of second-generation materials. Such materials vary from

agricultural waste to carbon captured from algae, all of which contain carbon, a needed material

for making fuel. These fuels don’t contribute to additional carbon being released into the

atmosphere, making them carbon neutral.

F1 sees something even more for their sustainable fuels; they envision them being used

globally as drop-in fuels. Drop-in fuels are designed to be placed in ordinary cars to replace the

carbon-heavy fuel used today. This means that there would not need to be any dramatic changes

to existing cars for them to be used. The research being done by various fuel companies across

the sport is paving the way for development of sustainable fuels’ implementation into everyday

lives.

As these fuels progress from development to in use, it’s only a matter of time until they

hit the market for consumers and contribute to lowering global carbon emissions.