Singapore GP finetunes carbon emissions

Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix wants to become one of the most environmentally sustainable street circuits.

Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix 2023.
Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix 2023. Photo Credit: Singapore GP

In 2022, Singapore GP and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) made preparations for the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix to emerge as one of the most environmentally sustainable street circuits on the race calendar. This included moving towards cleaner energy, going digital for greater resource efficiency, improving waste management and reducing single-use plastics.

This year, to transition the F1 Pit Building to cleaner energy sources, STB appointed ENGIE South East Asia to install 1,396 solar panels which can generate 803,155 kWh of energy in a year. This amount of solar energy was sufficient to power the F1 Pit Building for an entire race month. This included providing the power for the Formula 1 Paddock Club suites, Race Control Room, Media Centre, garages, and the administrative offices. Any excess solar energy was sold to the grid to offset the facility’s utility costs.

More energy-efficient track lighting system will continue until 2028. The metal-halide projectors that were in place since 2008 will be fully replaced by LED track lights to illuminate the 4.928km-long race track, consuming at least 30% less electricity than the previous bulbs. In addition, the new lights also do not require any warm up time to reach their full luminance when switched on, saving time and energy.

The metal-halide lights will be given new life through recycled art. DZ Engineering and Dino Zoli Foundation will be organising an art exhibition featuring creations that artists will make out of the old projectors to promote a more sustainable future.

Guided by the 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) strategy, the event strove to minimise waste through all phases of the event operations.

· The trial of water-efficient solar-powered container toilets saved an estimated 129,600 litres of water over the three-day race weekend.

· Donation of non-perishable food from the Paddock.

· Encouraging staff and patrons to use reusable water bottles.

· Selling only still water in beverage cartons (when necessary). In 2022, organisers eliminated 160,000 single-use plastic bottles in the Circuit Park.

· All materials and infrastructure used in the delivery of the event were reused where possible.

· Collecting and recycling used cooking oil. Some, 2,000 litres of B100 biodiesel were generated from the collection in 2022 equating to a reduction of over 4,000kg of CO2 in emissions.

· Continued use of sustainably sourced tableware in Paddock Club, Hospitality Suites, select staff canteens and SGP Grid Bars.

· Use of biodigesters to turn food waste from Paddock Club, Paddock and majority of Hospitality Suites into farm-ready fertilisers.


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