TotalEnergies’ 100% Renewable Fuel a “Major Milestone”

The introduction of TotalEnergies’ 100 percent renewable fuel in this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship has been hailed as a “major milestone” by the French energy giant, FIA and ACO.

Announced last year, the WEC will become the first global motorsport championship to have its entire field run on fully renewable fuels in the Excellium Racing 100 blend beginning with this week’s season-opening 1000 Miles of Sebring.

The fuel, sourced entirely from the recycling of residual biomass from the wine industry, has been rolled out for use in the WEC before any other series that TotalEnergies currently serves.

According to Pierre-Gautier Caloni, the Vice President of TotalEnergies’ motorsport division, the WEC will act as a “real laboratory” for the company as it makes further strides towards sustainability.

The Excellium Racing 100 fuel does not feature a single drop of oil. 

“We are particularly proud to introduce this 100 percent renewable fuel in competition,” said Caloni.

“It is a major milestone in the partnership between TotalEnergies and the Automobile Club de L’Ouest, whose strategy of promoting sustainable development is in line with our company’s ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, together with society.

“The FIA World Endurance Championship is thus a real laboratory for our company, a showcase for the innovative solutions we can offer for decarbonized and sustainable mobility.”

According to a statement from the WEC, Excellium Racing 100 is a “genuine racing fuel” that meets the requirements of the FIA, car manufacturers and the European directive on renewable energies (RED) that will reduce CO2 emissions by at least 65 percent over its life cycle.

It comes after 18 months of research and development of the fuel, which is produced on a base of bioethanol derived mainly from wine residues through a process of fermentation, distillation and dehydration of grape marcs and lees.

“Endurance is embarking on a new era,” said ACO President Pierre Fillon.

“With TotalEnergies, a long-standing partner of the ACO, we are moving up a level with our shared commitment to reduce our environmental impact.

“Our primary goal is to cut our carbon emissions and everyone needs to get on-board to help accomplish this.

“We are proud to uphold our ambition of making the 24 Hours of Le Mans a testing ground for automotive technology.”

FIA Presdient Mohammed Ben Sulayem added: “Motorsport is not only a fantastic spectacle, but also a unique research and development platform, helping to move the introduction of sustainable technologies to the automotive industry forward and thus benefiting road users worldwide.

“By its nature, endurance racing is at the forefront of the innovation.

“Therefore, having the FIA World Endurance Championship switching to 100 percent sustainable fuel from TotalEnergies is an important milestone that perfectly reflects the FIA’s objective of introducing sustainable energy sources to motor sport.”