ALMS raises the bar on Green Racing

The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón and its Green Racing partners — the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and SAE International — have accomplished significant environmental achievements since the ALMS adopted Green Racing in 2008.

The series successfully reduced its oil consumption by more than 40 percent during the last five years of competition. For the 2011 season, the cumulative total oil replacement achieved in the ALMS was 43.5 percent compared to 2005 levels.

This impressive achievement is an important indicator of the impact of ALMS' commitment to Green Racing — proving that outstanding performance can be achieved while dramatically reducing the nation's dependence on imported oil. If this achievement were translated to the United States' vehicle fleet, the nation could invest more than $170 billion in its own economy.

All cars within the ALMS compete on one of five alternative fuel and energy sources — E10, E85, Isobutanol, low-sulfur diesel and even hybrid technologies. In fact, many teams switched to alternative fuels primarily for the competitive advantage they offer.

Several of the Series' tire partners have also made notable technological improvements in the sustainability of their products.

Michelin produces one of the most technologically advanced racing tires on the market. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2011, teams completed quadruple stints on the Michelin tire — nearly four hours of peak competition on the same tires. Michelin attributes its longer-lasting tire to its decreasing rate of rolling resistance, which enables teams to go farther using less energy.

Yokohama's environmentally sensitive ADVAN ENV-R2 racing tire uses a greater amount of sustainable resources such as orange oil and natural rubber, which reduces the use of petroleum during manufacturing. The ADVAN ENV-R2 is faster and offers better level of grip. Conventional racing tires include little or no natural materials, but Yokohama's ADVAN ENV-R2 racing tire contains 20 percent renewable, natural content. The orange oil technology was developed by Yokohama's motorsport division.

In addition to advancements in tire technology, the auto industry itself is using ALMS Green Racing to develop and test new concepts for the road.

General Motors' direct injection technology, which was used in its racing program two years ago, is already available in a variety of Buick and Chevrolet models.

The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid also made its return to North American racing during the eighth round of the American Le Mans Series at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. It delivered nothing short of an impressive performance. The Porsche used its combination of a 465-horsepower internal combustion engine and a flywheel linked to two 75-kilowatt wheel motors to remain in sync with the top of the competing GT field.

The experimental car completed 236 laps of the 2.238-mile circuit with just three pit stops while most of the official GT entrants logged five stops.

Along with its commitment to Green performance, the ALMS is also committed to educating the public on the importance of green automotive practices. Together the EPA, DOE, Argonne National Laboratory and the ALMS developed the Green Racing Simulator to introduce the public to vehicle technologies and practices that improve fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions without affecting car performance.

Utilizing a gaming system, engineers at Argonne National Laboratory developed a technique to co-simulate hybrid powertrains by utilizing regenerative braking — an energy recovery mechanism that reduces speed by converting the vehicle's kinetic energy into stored energy that the vehicle can later use. As fans race against other users they learn the importance and benefits of applying green technologies to their everyday driving habits. The simulator was present at the majority of the 2011 events.

The unveiling of the DeltaWing at Petit Le Mans was a glimpse into the future of motorsports. The DeltaWing features half the weight, half the horsepower, half the aerodynamic drag, and half the fuel and tire consumption of a traditional Le Mans prototype sports car.

The radical concept will occupy the 56th garage at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2012 — an entry reserved for a car featuring new technical innovation.

The masterminds behind the DeltaWing aim for the car to not only inspire change in the motorsport world but for the car to be a catalyst for the adoption of lightweight, efficient road cars which minimize the use of natural resources.

The American Le Mans Series is the only series currently recognized as "Green Racing" by the DOE, EPA and SAE International. The structure of the racing classes in the ALMS allows a wide variety of manufacturers, technologies and fuels to compete at high speeds and in extreme environments proving that sustainable technologies do not impair performance.

Green Racing is helping to accelerate the development of innovative and sustainable automotive technologies in order to achieve the President's mandated transportation goals, which include reducing the nation's oil imports by one-third by 2025, having one million plug-in vehicles on the road by 2015, adhering to Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards and the first-ever greenhouse gas emission standards under the Clean Air Act.