Sustainable Business magazine - essential reading for sustainability professionals
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/137958
Technology Formula One 3/4 race team, in the production centres or operational headquarters, or by refining our methods of operational deployment, we are constantly pioneering new methodologies and relentlessly innovating in order to improve the automotive and technological processes that could, one day, be used to power our homes, vehicles and appliances," he says. There is no doubt that committing to a more sustainable way of operating is a long and complex process, however, McLaren has successfully made some crucial first steps by introducing a number of key energy-saving initiatives across all of its UK operations. Recently, these efforts have been focused on increasing the energy efficiency of the team's Woking headquarters, The McLaren Technology Centre (MTC). It has optimised air conditioning systems so that they only run in occupied areas, and more efficient lighting and controls have been installed throughout the site. In fact, this initiative involved the work of a McLaren engineer, who designed, developed and manufactured bespoke low-energy lamps to illuminate car parks and access roads. Closer to the racetrack, the team is working with its partner ExxonMobil on a driver efficiency competition that will see the Mclaren team truck drivers rewarded for fuel-efficient driving throughout the European leg of the F1 season. Drivers will be monitored for their pedal movements, engine operation and idle fuel consumption. Encouraging safe and economic driving is a major focus of the team's transport operation and this competition aims to improve its safety and sustainability performance. However, progressing towards a resource-efficient, low-carbon sport is not only important for environmental sustainability, it is also about how the sport can survive and how it can enable smaller teams to flourish. This is all part of the process of making the sport sustainable in a broader context, Neale says. A part of this means ensuring that every F1 team is able to, and encouraged to, use its resources efficiently and to minimise waste. This has a dual effect, as every pound that is spent on heating the buildings the teams operate or powering the vehicles they drive, is a pound less spent on car development. This is largely why teams accept the efforts to make F1 more responsible and sustainable. There are reasons beyond simply being green or altruistic – it works as a "win-win by delivering both environmental and cost efficiency" Neale says. Sharing the learning is, however, just as important. Formula One has always been a vehicle for technology development, assisting with the transfer of those technologies to the wider industry. "There is an obvious connection between F1 and transport, and it is logically going to be one of the areas that benefits from the technologies developed within the sport," says Neale. The McLaren P1, Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes' latest hyper car, which is designed solely for performance, is also efficient because of its use of electric technologies which are directly driven by the development of KERS in F1. "As this high-level, high-performance, hybrid technology becomes more common, we anticipate that one of the barriers to the acceptance of "green technologies" in wider life will be broken down. People will not think of electric cars, or certainly hybrid cars, as being an alternative to performance. Instead, they will see that the two can go hand-in-hand,