Silverstone Classic wins the carbon neutral race

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Britain’s largest historic racing event has achieved what the organisers believe is a motorsport ‘first’, by offsetting the entire event’s carbon output.

Not only will the carbon produced by the Silverstone Classic’s 700 participating race cars be neutralised, but the carbon footprint of 60,000 spectators will also be included in the 1200 tonne offset. An allowance has even been made for the carbon produced by the event infrastructure, including paddock support vehicles and catering trucks!

Carbon-Cutter, an official partner of the Silverstone Classic, will cover all costs of the carbon offset, calculated at a 1200 tonnes: a figure verified by the Government Energy Saving Trust.

“In simple terms, the carbon offset calculation for the Silverstone Classic is based on 900 competitors coming to compete in 700 cars in 20 races, as well as an estimated 60,000 spectators’ cars arriving during the three-day event, with an average 2.5 people per car travelling 100 miles,” says George Rozwadowski, managing director of Carbon-Cutter. “We anticipate around 2,500 Harley-Davidson motorbikes attending, 4000 cars on display from over 80 car clubs and, of course, all the support and infrastructure vehicles associated with a world-class motorsport event.

“This adds up to a substantial 1200 tonne carbon output. We are not aware of any motorsport event, to date, off-setting its entire carbon footprint and we’re delighted to support the Silverstone Classic in crossing the ‘carbon neutral’ winning line first.”

“This is a very exciting project to be involved in,” says Ken Prichard Jones, director of Racing at Silverstone Ltd. “The Silverstone Classic encourages public interest in our engineering industries’ future by celebrating motorsport heritage and achievement: environmental technologies are intrinsic to automotive innovation. The Carbon-Cutter scheme perfectly illustrates how the Silverstone Classic provides a great weekend out for all the family to enjoy ‘carbon neutral’ fun! Participants really can invest in the future by enjoying the past.”

Carbon-Cutter is a unique carbon offset scheme. Individuals donating to Carbon-Cutter not only offset two tonnes of carbon for every €50 euro invested in European Solar Parks, which supply electricity to power companies, but also have the option to receive at least their money back. Corporate customers can also donate via  www.buyawatt.com where their minimum donation is €1000, with returns 20% over initial investment.