F1 Develops synthetic sustainable fuel

Soldato
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Formula 1 has developed a synthetic sustainable fuel to be introduced in 2026 as part of its programme to be net-zero carbon by 2030.

Synthetic fuels are manufactured by an industrial process and emit in their burning only the carbon that was taken out of the atmosphere to make them.
The fuel can be used in standard internal combustion engines and could help the car industry to decarbonise.

In F1, it will be used in new-generation hybrid engines from 2026.

These will increase the proportion of power produced by the hybrid part of the engine compared to the already super-efficient motors used since 2014.

F1 re-emphasised its commitment to fully sustainable fuels in a statement on Monday detailing its progress towards its net-zero goals.

The statement did not specify that the fuel it was developing was synthetic - as opposed to derived from bio-mass - but a source within F1 confirmed to BBC Sport that was the case.



I know there is a massive push on EV's.

Will this mean we can keep our ICE engines for longer, if the Oil Giants develop something similar?
 
Associate
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Lip service "Synthetic fuels are manufactured by an industrial process(takes lots of energy may or not be green) and emit in their burning only the carbon that was taken out of the atmosphere to make them(plus unburnt hydrocarbons, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide but yes carbon neutral). Never going to replace oil on a global scale only used for heritage vehicles, future will still be dominated by electric/ alternatives.
 
Soldato
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It’s a smart invention for motor racing but that’s it. The scale and cost of production will never ever be useful for regular consumers.

Assuming this is the same group with Porsche involved, by their own admission if everything goes perfectly to plan they hope to produce 500k barrels a year by 2030. Just the UK uses that much a DAY. Also I recall they’re aiming for £10 a litre.

Let’s not forget that all of this rests on renewable energy existing anyway to create the stuff, so you might aswell cut out the middle man and put that energy straight into an EV.
 
Soldato
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Assuming this is the same group with Porsche involved, by their own admission if everything goes perfectly to plan they hope to produce 500k barrels a year by 2030. Just the UK uses that much a DAY. Also I recall they’re aiming for £10 a litre.
So about a third of the cost of regular unleaded by 2030 ;)
 
Associate
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What about Hydrocracked Vegetable Oil - HVO? it is made from vegetable oil but is made in a similar way to how fuels are made from crude. You can already buy it in bulk as a drop in replacement for the all but recently outlawed red diesel.
 
Soldato
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You mean you're happy paying even more than we are now for petrol?

People are, very much so. Yes everyone moans about the cost of petrol, but the fact remains there are more cars on the roads now than ever before. People literally queue at petrol stations to fill up. My neighbour drives to the co-op, it's right opposite our house! It's quicker to walk than to drive.
Most people on my street drive their kids to school each morning, it's a 10min walk. I reckon 90% of the cars I see on the roads have one person in. The government could push it to £3 a litre and people would pay it. Yes, there are people who NEED to drive, but not everyone needs to drive as much as they do.

I do wonder how much petrol has to rise before people change their habits.
 
Soldato
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What about Hydrocracked Vegetable Oil - HVO? it is made from vegetable oil but is made in a similar way to how fuels are made from crude. You can already buy it in bulk as a drop in replacement for the all but recently outlawed red diesel.

I think the general idea is that it's bad to use land which could be used for producing food to produce fuel, especially for cars. You're better off using an alternative energy source such and wind, tide, solar, nuclear for our transport and freeing up that land for food production.

Same goes for these synthetic fuels, they rely on an abundance of clean energy to produce them so really we should just be pumping that energy directly into a battery for a car as that's hugely more efficient overall outside of niche use cases like classic car racing or whatever.
 
Associate
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Top Gear just did a bit on synthetic fuel tonight, it does sound interesting, I remember a while ago reading Porsche where looking into it. For the masses BEV is probably the future but this might be a lifeline for the enthusiasts.
 
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There's no way 'normal' unleaded as it is now will be still be around that long.

If alternatives like synthetic hadnt come along, what makes you think it wouldnt? Well maybe not 100 years when the oil runs out but certainly for decades to come as its not as though millions of cars and other stuff like generators/lawnmowers/strimmers etc are all going to disappear overnight.
 
Soldato
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If alternatives like synthetic hadnt come along, what makes you think it wouldnt? Well maybe not 100 years when the oil runs out but certainly for decades to come as its not as though millions of cars and other stuff like generators/lawnmowers/strimmers etc are all going to disappear overnight.
But it has though, we have already seen them up the amount of bio fuel allowed in normal unleaded. We will only see this trend continue.
Even while we still have oil available there a movement to shift away from 'normal' unleaded and expect this to continue.
 
Caporegime
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But it has though, we have already seen them up the amount of bio fuel allowed in normal unleaded. We will only see this trend continue.
Even while we still have oil available there a movement to shift away from 'normal' unleaded and expect this to continue.

And now we see a trend of it being suggested by the Govt that there should be less bio fuel in fuel and we should put the land back to growing food, not fuel crops, in order to feed people.
 
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