The following is the beginning of Lord Drayson's speech at the 'Race Has Gone Green' Conference, Long Beach 16th April 2010.
The full speech can be read online at www.DraysonRacing.com.
Good afternoon, everyone.
I've now spoken a number of times about both motorsport and mainstream automotive going green.
And on both counts, I'm generally optimistic about the direction we're heading in.
Consider the first round of the American Le Mans Series at Sebring last month.
Peugeot triumphed in the LMP1 category using bio-diesel power, and all 36 entrants ran on E10 or greater.
Sebring witnessed the use of biobutanol for the first time, by Mazda, while several teams – including Drayson Racing – trialled the lithium batteries being developed by Braille Batteries.
The Green Oil from Green Earth Technologies is new this season.
Switching to the UK market, where I continue to have an interest as the UK minister for science and innovation, there are further signs of progress.
The UK Government has committed over £450 million to put us at the forefront of designing, manufacturing and driving ultra-low carbon vehicles.
The world's largest demonstration project is underway.
London, Milton Keynes, and the North East region will be installing more than 11,000 vehicle recharging points during the next three years.
And from 2011, UK motorists will receive up to £5,000 off the cost of an ultra-low carbon car.
This is all consistent with a broader joint Government-industry strategy to secure a bright future for UK automotive going green. The scale of this challenge – the technology, the investment, the market development – is such that we can only succeed by working together.
The UK Office for Low Emission Vehicles is where much of this work is happening – where government officials are making policy alongside the automotive industry, power generators and infrastructure companies.
Because of such measures, we're at a point – I believe – where going green isn't yesterday's story, but nor has it become today's reality.
Similarly here in the US, over the next few days, green racing at Long Beach won't generate headlines in the LA Times purely by virtue of it taking place. The novelty factor has passed.
But our efforts go on. As I've said before, we race to win.
The full speech can be read online at www.DraysonRacing.com.
