F1’s pole position on energy transition

5

October

2021

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The presence of electric vehicles has become more and more prominent in our daily lives. According to IEA (2021), in 2020 the industry reached new heights as it hit the 10 million stock mark and a 4.6% market share of total cars sales globally. Specifically in the European Union, the shift from fossil fuel cars to electric cars is on a rise as it has become the biggest sales market of electric cars, surpassing China. Moreover, earlier this year the EU announced its proposal effective ban for new fossil fuels cars from 2035 (Carey & Steitz, 2021).

In that light, the announcement of Formula 1 to target 100% sustainable fuels by the middle of this decade might seem out of place.

First of all, let’s answer the question as to what 100% sustainable fuel actually is? It is a fuel that uses advanced components from either carbon capture schemes, municipal waste or non-food biomass (Stuart, 2021). Carbon capture is a new technique which takes carbon directly out of the air and reuses the carbon to generate energy. Non-food biomass can be anything from algae to agricultural waste. This sustainable fuel has the ability to achieve greenhouse gas emission savings of at least 65% compared to traditional fossil derived patrol.

It is expected that the rise of electric vehicles will continue and that full-on electric vehicles will contribute for 8% of the 1.8 billion predicted cars produced in 2030 (Stuart, 2021). This does, however, illustrate the importance of this development as the vast majority of cars produced in this decade will still use internal combustion engine elements to different extents. Moreover, the development of electric trucks, trains and aircrafts is still nowhere near that of cars thus traditional fuels will continue to play a big role longer than currently is stated. The techniques used to produce the sustainable fuel for the F1, has the potential to be produced for every means of transport if honed and made mainstream.  

Perhaps, the sport with the worst initial reputation in regard to the well-being of the planet is now on its way to introduce a ground-breaking innovation that benefits all. F1 previously has already shown that its innovations regarding its sensors, engines or braking systems have been widely applied all over the world (Kanal, 2019). This illustrates that it is both important to innovate into new directions but to also always look on how traditional concepts can be improved as a synergy is needed before the new innovation can reach its full potential.

References

Carey, N. & Steitz, C., 2021. EU proposes effective ban for new fossil-fuel cars from 2035. [Online]
Available at: EU proposes effective ban for new fossil-fuel cars from 2035
[Accessed 5 October 2021].

IEA, 2021. Trends and developments in electric vehicle markets. [Online]
Available at: https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2021/trends-and-developments-in-electric-vehicle-markets
[Accessed 25 October 2021].

Kanal, S., 2019. How F1 technology has supercharged the world. [Online]
Available at: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.how-f1-technology-has-supercharged-the-world.6Gtk3hBxGyUGbNH0q8vDQK.html
[Accessed 5 October 2021].

Stuart, G., 2021. Pat Symonds on how Formula 1 are creating the next generation of 100% sustainable fuels. [Online]
Available at: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.pat-symonds-on-how-formula-1-are-creating-the-next-generation-of-100.6XCGNQ3ExMhbhYy338Qgi2.html
[Accessed 5 October 2021].

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Apple’s next move: one step too far?

29

September

2021

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The global pandemic has influenced the whole world for the past two years. It has caused significant amounts of harm to economies, welfare and general wellbeing of people. In countries such the United Kingdom and the United States, the percentage of people that experiences symptoms of depression and anxiety has reached new heights. Especially in the United States as 42% of the adults surveyed stated that they feel a form of anxiety or depression (Abbott, 2021). The rise in mental health issues will become the focal point of already exhausted healthcare industries across the world.

Apple sees an opportunity to indirectly aid the industry as according to Wall Street Journal (2021), the company is working on iPhone features that are capable of detecting mental-health concerns. In collaboration with UCLA and Biogen, Apple is researching whether it can expand its health detecting capabilities from the physical aspect already implemented in the smartwatches to the mental aspect. With the use of sensors, data on mobility, physical activity, sleep patterns and typing behaviour is collected to create an algorithm that should be capable of reliably capturing digital signals that could illustrate mental health issues.

For the research, data from the iPhone video camera, keyboard and audio sensors will be tracked. The data will include analysis of facial and vocal expressions, speed of typing, frequency of typos and what type of content is typed (Winkler, 2021). It is uncertain that if this feature is implemented, how it will be implemented but it is certain that a large part of privacy is sacrificed. Although, previous research has illustrated that people with certain mental health issues use their phones differently, it still remains uncertain if reliable algorithms can be created.

If Apple is successful, they have the ability to affect millions of people worldwide which however consequently raises privacy issues. Earlier this year, it has been reported that Apple will warn authorities if it detects any form of child pornography (McMillan, 2021). Although this time around for widely accepted reasons, this does illustrate that if the company deems that it is necessary to share certain information with third parties, they will.

Therefore, the question is whether we as customers should be accepting of this innovation. On the one hand, it can have a positive influences as it can potentially help millions of people detect and perhaps prevent mental health issues. But on the other hand, if we become accepting of it, we allow that the digital device that already knows so much about us, to gain even more power. Should we be willing to share the most sensitive type of information with a company whose core objective is to be profitable?

References

Abbott, A., 2021. COVID’s mental-health toll: how scientists are tracking a surge in depression. [Online]
Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00175-z
[Accessed 29 September 2021].

McMillan, R., 2021. Apple Plans to Have iPhones Detect Child Pornography, Fueling Privacy Debate. [Online]
Available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-plans-to-have-iphones-detect-child-pornography-fueling-privacy-debate-11628190971?
[Accessed 29 September 2021].

Winkler, R., 2021. Apple Is Working on iPhone Features to Help Detect Depression, Cognitive Decline. [Online]
Available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-wants-iphones-to-help-detect-depression-cognitive-decline-sources-say-11632216601
[Accessed 29 September 2021].

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