Every year, the Goodwood Revival festival gives people a unique chance to come together to enjoy vintage car racing from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.
The historic event held at Goodwood Circuit in Southern England attracts 150,000 people annually and showcases a range of vintage cars, from Minis and Austins to AC Cobras, Ford Mustangs, Jaguars, and Ferraris. As reported by Forbes, this year the organizers required all cars to be run on sustainable fuel.
But what is sustainable fuel? The fuel is produced by capturing carbon from the atmosphere. So, although it is still combusted in the same way as regular gas, if the carbon is captured using sustainable energy like wind or solar power, then the fuel is labeled as sustainable.
This is because the carbon is being recycled unlike regular gasoline, which adds new carbon to the atmosphere every time it burns. Organizers of the Goodwood Revival required all cars to be powered by fuel that has at least 70% advanced sustainable components.
While it's still polluting and a far cry from carbon neutral, this is a step forward for motorsports and could go a long way toward ensuring their survival as the world shifts to focus on sustainability and reducing the production of heat-trapping pollution. Race cars produce a huge amount of waste, including air pollution and waste tires. For example, NASCAR races release a staggering four million pounds of heat-trapping carbon dioxide every year, according to Motorsport Week.
The Goodwood festival is not the first to require the use of sustainable fuel.
In 2022, the World Rally Championship was one of the first to require 100% sustainable fuel. The switch from gasoline to sustainable fuel resulted in an estimated reduction of 564 tons of polluting gases, according to Forbes. Electric vehicles have also been making waves in the motorsport world as the sport looks to the future.
The news delighted fans of the iconic sport.
Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel shared his excitement about the switch to sustainable fuel, with Forbes relaying his thoughts: "I enjoyed sharing my 'Race Without Trace' initiative with the fans at the Festival of Speed and having the opportunity to show that sustainable fuels are a fantastic way to ensure a possible future pathway for the sport that we love."
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Jenson Button, another fellow F1 champion, said: "What's so exciting about these fuels is that they can guarantee the future of historic racing, enabling us to enjoy combustion engine cars for years to come."
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