As the 2024 Formula One season gears up for the next series of overseas ‘flyaway’ races, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team is pleased to confirm that we are on track to quadruple our aviation emissions reduction by the end of 2025 through investment in Sustainable Aviation Fuel certificates (SAFc).
Building on the announcement that the team more than doubled aviation emissions reduction through SAFc purchase in 2023, achieving a reduction of 6,695 tCO₂e for business travel emissions, our investment in SAFc underscores our commitment to become one of the world’s most sustainable global professional sports teams.
In 2022, the team became the first global sports team to invest in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) through book and claim and direct refinery capacity. The increased implementation of book and claim announced today means we are set to quadruple annual aviation carbon emission reductions through SAFc use in 2025 compared to 2022.1
In concrete terms, this means we are expecting to reduce our aviation emissions through SAFc purchase by a total of 18,500 tCO₂e across 2024 and 2025, with 8,000 tCO₂e saved in 2024 and 10,500 tCO₂e saved in 2025.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team
“A net reduction in our emissions sits at the heart of our operations and the ambitious sustainability targets we have set ourselves. We continue to invest in innovative solutions and technology that will enhance our performance, helping us go further faster.”
From 2022 to 2025, we are targeting emissions reductions of over 27,500 tonnes of carbon through our investment in SAFc, quadrupling our annual aviation emissions reduction since our original SAF investment. This reflects our commitment to understanding and addressing our environmental impact, while also supporting the growth and credibility of the SAF certificate market. We aim to showcase the potential and impact of SAF, encouraging others to adopt SAFc and drive further investment in this growing market.
Alice Ashpitel, Head of Sustainability, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team
“Our investment in Sustainable Aviation Fuel is more than a strategy; we believe it can create a greener future. We see SAFc as a game-changer, a way for sports and businesses to make a lasting impact. We hope that our support for this sector can help trigger others to do the same and drive further investment in SAF production. We have been hugely grateful for the support of our suppliers SkyNRG and British Airways who have helped us realise our ambition to mitigate one of the most significant sources of our emissions and look forward to engaging the wider industry sector in the future.”
Sustainable Fuels will change the face of Formula One in 2026 but they are already one of the cornerstones of our sustainability strategy.
During the 2023 European Season, we saved 339 tCO₂e through a switch to HVO biofuels for land freight and on-site at the European race venues. This year we have targeted 100% biofueled logistics for all nine races in the 2024 European season, with the results due to be reported in the coming weeks.
Our team has ambitious targets for 2030 including a 75% reduction in Race Team Control emissions and 100% reduction of Scope 1 & 2 emissions.
Find out more about our team’s commitment to sustainability here.
1 Current and forecast SAFc reductions are taken from the data provided by the team’s SAFc suppliers. This compares the Well-to-Wake life cycle assessments of our book and claim SAFc purchase compared to the same volume of jet fuel. The mass balance approach of the book and claim system used in 2022 and 2023 was independently verified by a third party and confirmed there were no instances of non-conformities identified. We report using the guidelines outlined in Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition’s ‘SAF Certificate (SAFc) Emissions Accounting and Reporting Guidelines’ to demonstrate the emissions reductions achieved with SAFc purchase.
Notes:
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Investment
In 2022, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team became the first global sports team to invest in Sustainable Aviation Fuel, marking a significant stride in our sustainability journey. This investment represents a dual strategy, focusing on the acquisition of book and claim certificates to support market growth, and simultaneously enhancing refinery capacity to boost SAF production. This investment was a part of the team’s broader strategy to slash CO₂ emissions and achieve Race Team Control Net Zero by 2030.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel
Sustainable Aviation Fuels are renewable or waste-derived aviation fuels that can replace traditional fossil jet fuel. Due to their drop in nature and much lower life cycle emissions than traditional aviation fuel, they are acknowledged by the International Civil Aviation Organisation as a key technology in diminishing future aviation emissions.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Certificates
SAFc are an accounting instrument that allows the environmental benefits of SAF to be decoupled from the physical fuel, through a book and claim model. This allows the physical fuel to be delivered to the nearest airport (reducing the emissions impact of long-distance transport) and the emissions reductions to be claimed by the SAFc buyer.
SAFc is recognised as a key mechanism in the transition to Net Zero to help send demand signals to the market to increase production of sustainable fuels. The team’s SAFc purchase will address their indirect Scope 3 aviation emissions and will be accounted for using best practice accounting standards set out in the in Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition’s ‘SAF Certificate (SAFc) Emissions Accounting and Reporting Guidelines’ to ensure environmental integrity.
