In the week running up to their home Grand Prix at Imola, Scuderia AlphaTauri announced the future steps for their sustainability program and also what they have managed to do so far. These future steps include ecological changes that will benefit the environment and particularly the Emilia Romagna Region in which we are racing in this weekend.
The decade that began last year in 2020 saw and continues to see an epochal change in the relationship between Formula 1 and the environment. This program will follow the FIA Environmental Strategy from 2020 to 2030 which is included in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The FIA, Formula 1 and AlphaTauri all have a common aim which is set out in Countdown to Zero by 2030, this involves a systematic reduction of CO2 emissions from everything relating to the production of racing cars in our factory, on track activity, logistics, travel and racing itself. Some of the targets that have been set include reaching a net zero carbon footprint from working in the factory to the chequered flag – meaning the entirety of Formula 1 will be net Zero of Carbon.
Inside the factory, action has already been taken to reduce the largest producers of CO2 emissions, which are mainly the production process in the factory at Faenza and in the wind tunnel which is based in England.
In 2020, a 100% renewable electricity supply was purchased which reduced emissions last year by 35%, this year a new collaboration with Enomondo who are a Caviro Extra company and are leaders within the Italian sector, one of their plants being situated just a few hundred metres from the teams headquarters in Faenza.
Herambiente are also involved and they are involved in waste collection and gas, water and energy distribution, The Caviro Group takes wine production residual waste and feeds it into a biomass plant that produces thermo-electric energy. This renewable source supplies our factory with hot water, which powers our heating system and other needs of our production process and the facility itself.
Some of the steps that have already been taken are : in 2019, AlphaTauri decided to start to move towards sustainability across the board in Formula 1, both as a sport and a business. Red Bull began construction of a new Energy Station hospitality unit for both themselves and AlphaTauri.
The station which is built almost entirely of wood, it epitomises the ultimate use of green materials which make the best use of space and weight to benefit transport and energy saving. It was calculated that the team produced approximately 15,000 tonnes of CO2 in 2019.
In 2020 AlphaTauri began to only use green electricity for its production facilities which are produced 100% from renewable sources, went towards reducing emissions by over 35%. Everything that is not powered by electricity uses natural gas, bought from the public network. The Italian-Based team decided to calculate its carbon footprint per calendar year, carrying out an internal Audi with help from a independent third party who specialise in this area.
This year, Faenza became single-use plastic free in April with employees drinking from aluminium drink bottles which discourages the use of disposable plastic water bottles, this includes any visitors or guests at the company. AlphaTauri has begun to take specific actions to reduce its carbon emissions, starting with the largest source, the production activities of the Faenza Headquarters.
Starting from this Autumn, the consumption of Methane gas will be completely replaced by a heating network which is also supplied by the Caviro Group, once this becomes fully operational this will reduce CO2 emissions by a further 6 percent.
Next year the current factory car parks will feature solar panel canopies and there will also be spaces to recharge electric bikes and scooters and by 2030 the team aims to have a Net Zero Carbon footprint.
