Interesting article on the American Le Mans Series Green Challenge

[Fogelhund]

http://metacool.typepad.com/metacool...-green-re.html

This past weekend I watched some fantastic racing at Road Atlanta courtesy of the American Le Mans series. Audis were dicing with Peugeots, Ferraris with Porsches, Porsches with Acuras, and Corvettes with Aston Martins, among other marques. All of it awesome, technology-centric racing put on by the American Le Mans Series (ALMS).

What made this particular running of Petit Le Mans unique was the debut of something called the Green Challenge. An innovative behavioral incentive program developed jointly by the ALMS, the US Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Green Challenge allows racing teams to score points for sheer speed and for energy usage and carbon footprint........

More at link

[AU N EGL]

Oh Gawd

An innovative behavioral incentive program

In other words just a load of **** to see if people follow along.

[Dead-Eye]

The thing that bothers me about the green challenge is that it's totally unfathomable by the viewer. I mean, look at this:

* Performance Energy Coefficient (the amount of energy used): [total normalized fuel consumption during race] \ [1,000,000]
* Greenhouse Gas Coefficient (the amount of greenhouse gases emitted): 3 * [ (upstream C02) + (downstream C02)]
* Petroleum Fuels Displaced: Y * [ (upstream petroleum energy) + (downstream petroleum energy)]

Who's gonna work that out while following a race?

On the other hand, it's certainly not a bad idea and there's probably no way to make it more understandable while keeping it credible and not just the equivalent of a few green stripes on a tire.

[ss_collins]

Not really a new idea - they have had the Michelin Energy endurance challenge in Europe for a couple of years

[johntt]

Whatever its is, its good enough to get 2 manufacturers interested according to Atherton.

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by johntt

Whatever its is, its good enough to get 2 manufacturers interested according to Atherton.

Atherton said, Zytek +2 other mfgs were working very closely with the ALMS concerning the potential performance balancing formula for hybrids, in an interview during the second broadcast segment on Speed.



L.P.