Mercedes Formula One team commits to being net-carbon zero by end of 2020

Mercedes have laid out their ambition to ensure a net-zero carbon footprint for the team from 2020 forwards, using gold-standard carbon offsetting to neutralise the inevitable emission from travelling.

Mercedes are aiming to become the first carbon neutral team on the Formula One grid, with plans in place to reach this goal by the end of the season.

"We have taken the challenge on in trying to be net carbon-zero in 2020,2 said team principal Toto Wolff. "We are, by this summer, we will be receiving all of our energy from renewable sources, which is something that we are very proud of.

"All of the little gains that you can find through not using plastics and trying to optimise our carbon footprint generally by using different generators and fueling them in a different way, we will be net carbon-zero by the end of 2020 and that is something that we are very proud of and shows that it is going in that direction."

Wolff added that, despite the recent entry of a factory Mercedes team into Formula E, electrification has been a long running project in Formula One, with the first signs of this shift coming in the 2009 season.

"Electrification is happening in Formula 1 since more than ten-years," continued Wolff. "It started with the first KERS system which was brake energy recovery, and that has developed over the years. Today, one can say that Formula One engines are the most efficient hybrid engines in the world.

"We came from about 27% of thermal efficiency to more than 50%, which is a great number, and at the end of the day, it is about lap time in Formula One.

"We represent the three-pointed star on the racetrack, and we want our motorsport platforms to be a case study for the rapid and open-minded implementation of innovations for a more sustainable future. That goes from the hybrid and battery electric technology in our race cars, to our daily business practice at the racetrack and in our production facilities. We want to be at the forefront of this change."

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