Paris-based global energy company, TotalEnergies, is developing a 100% renewable fuel for motorsport competition, to be introduced next season at the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), including the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2022, and at the European Le Mans Series (ELMS).
Competition is a key driver for innovation: the extreme constraints met in endurance racing –race duration and high mileage- are constantly pushing for the development of higher-performance fuels, which however must also address the new challenges posed by the energy and environmental transition, the company said in a news release.
This 100% renewable fuel to be offered by TotalEnergies will be produced on bioethanol basis, made from wine residues from the French agricultural industry, and from ETBE produced at TotalEnergies' Feyzin refinery near Lyon, France, from feedstock also sourced from by the circular economy. This fuel should allow an immediate reduction of at least 65% of the racing cars’ CO2 emissions, the company said.
Named “Excellium Racing 100”, this fuel opens a new chapter in the Endurance racing and motorsport energy transition for all the actors involved. It will have all the required qualities for a racing fuel and will meet automakers' requirements, as well as the latest FIA criteria for sustainable fuels, by leveraging the expertise of TotalEnergies Additives and Fuels Solutions. This team has notably designed “Excellium Endurance”, the fuel used this year for the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2021 which already includes 10% of advanced bioethanol, the company continued.
"Our ambition is to be a major player in the energy transition and to get to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, together with society," said Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of TotalEnergies.
"TotalEnergies is supporting its customers and partners in their evolutions, by thus applying its strategy to motorsport: sustainable liquid fuels, electricity, batteries, hybridization, hydrogen," said Pouyanné. "Advanced biofuels have an undeniable part to play in helping the transport sector to reduce its CO2 emissions immediately. This 100% renewable fuel, that will be made available in motor racing as soon as 2022, is a perfect illustration. As we are becoming a broad energy company, the racing track is more than ever an open-air laboratory for TotalEnergies."
