New fuel sources have been praised by experts as presenting new opportunities to help the motoring industry decarbonise.
Sustainable fuels are already seen on forecourts across the UK with E10, while other e-fuels are available from major filling stations.
Goodwood Festival of Speed has become the latest event to back the use of e-fuels with its 2024 Revival celebration exclusively using sustainable fuel during its races.
The Duke of Richmond, who founded the Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival, said all 13 races at the festival would be included.
The new sustainable fuels have been described as ‘hugely important’
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This has made the Revival festival the world’s first historic motorsport event to race exclusively with sustainable fuel.
The new fuels have already been backed by Formula 1 legends Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel.
Karun Chandhok, former Formula 1 and Formula E driver, and friend of Goodwood, praised the changes for helping the classic car sector become more sustainable.
Chandhok, who raced for HRT, Lotus and Mahindra Racing, said the new fuel would present new opportunities for the industry.
He said: “The Duke of Richmond and his team have done a brilliant job at bringing motor racing to a new audience whilst celebrating the history of our beloved sport.
“I’ve been a very vocal supporter of sustainable fuels alongside electrification of motorsport and I think it’s hugely important to show the public that older high performance cars can run successfully on new fuels.
“This is an exciting and innovative step to ensure that we can all still enjoy these fantastic cars in a socially responsible way for the future”.
In 2022, Formula 1 announced that it is on course to deliver 100 per cent sustainable fuels for 2026.
F1 plans to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2030 through a “pioneering” drop-in fuel that is 100 per cent sustainable.
The organisation said the fuel could be used in F1 cars from 2026, but also most road cars across the world.
Cars used in Formula 1 already run on E10 fuel, which is now the standard grade of petrol on forecourts across the UK.
This involves a blend of 90 per cent fuel and 10 per cent renewable ethanol, which has been the standard in England, Scotland and Wales since September 2021 and November 2022 in Northern Ireland.
Pat Symonds, chief technical officer at F1, said it is a “fascinating challenge” to create a revolutionary fuel that could be used across a number of sectors.
He said: “At the time I was first talking to people about this, no one knew what I was talking about, and to be honest I’m not sure I did really, so I’ve done an awful lot of research into it.
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F1 cars currently run on E10 petrol
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“We’ve worked closely with the FIA, who have got a couple of very good fuels specialists and we’ve had a lot of help from our partner ARAMCO.”
