IMSA Green Launched, Alternative Fuels Program Confirmed

Leaders from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joined top executives from the automobile and fuel industries Saturday at Sebring International Raceway to praise the International Motor Sports Association’s (IMSA) alternative fuels program, a cornerstone component of its growing IMSA Green initiative.

VP Racing Fuels, Official Fuel Provider of TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, provides alternative fuels through its relationships with INEOS (cellulosic ethanol) and Dynamic Fuels (synthetic diesel).

IMSA has long-standing relationships with the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Cellulosic fuel is derived from renewable, non-food chain feedstock that does not affect food supply or commodity prices. The primary feedstock for synthetic diesel fuel produced by Dynamic Fuels is poultry and beef processing waste materials.

“Both Dynamic Fuels and INEOS are [derived from] waste products,” Mike Carr, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, said at a media gathering Friday.

“It is the ultimate in… efficient technologies to take these waste products and turn them into fuels that can limit our dependence on foreign oil [and] make for a greener future for all of us.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to see the technology being demonstrated out here. We look forward to continuing to expand this partnership and move forward. I think that the message to the public at large is, ‘These technologies have arrived.’”

IMSA signed new agreements with the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International in January just prior to the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

“Alongside our partners at DOE, IMSA and SAE, Green Racing has and continues to promote the development and use of alternative technologies and renewable fuels,” said Heather McTeer Toney, Administrator, Region IV, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“It’s an interactive platform for communities to recognize that we are constantly employing new and innovative technologies that will not only help improve air quality but also improve fuel efficiency and save money in driveways and on highways across America.

“Green Racing advances technologies from the raceway to the driveway, and it brings cleaner cars and fuels to the communities where we live, we learn, we work and we play.”

The IMSA Green platform is the evolution of a partnership that began in 2008 between the SAE, DOE, EPA and the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón – which merged with the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series following the 2013 season to form the TUDOR Championship.

A centerpiece to the partnership is the IMSA Green Challenge, which recognizes the most clean, fast and efficient GT Le Mans (GTLM) competitor in each TUDOR Championship race.

“It speaks volumes that we have the leadership of the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at Sebring International Raceway putting their support behind what we’re doing,” said Scott Atherton, president and chief operating officer, IMSA.

“IMSA’s embrace of alternative fuels falls completely in line with the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency’s bigger initiatives. The fact that IMSA uses these fuels in such a high-profile, high-performance way provides them with a testament to the quality and practicality of alternative fuels.”