The Department of Sports of the Cabildo of Lanzarote presented this Wednesday a study on the carbon footprint generated by motorsport competitions on the island, carried out by the Las Palmas Motorsport Federation. Specifically, the investigation highlights that the celebration of these sporting events in Lanzarote emitted carbon dioxide in 2021.
The study has calculated the carbon footprint of all motorsport competitions in the province of Las Palmas during the aforementioned year, which reaches 154.33 tons of CO2. The data collected for the analysis was provided by the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
In addition to Monzón, the event was attended by the president of the Las Palmas Motorsport Federation, Miguel Ángel Domínguez; the Deputy Minister of Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, Ángel Sabroso, and the General Director of Ecological Transition and Fight against Climate Change of the Government of the Canary Islands, Ángel Montañés.
The General Director of Ecological Transition and Fight against Climate Change of the Government of the Canary Islands, Ángel Montañés, stated that "this study is pioneering in sports matters and will be an important point within sports in our Archipelago. From the Ministry, we value the commitment to obtaining data that allows us to mitigate the carbon footprint generated by this activity."
During his speech, the president of the Las Palmas Motorsport Federation, Miguel Ángel Dominguez, pointed out that "we seek to demonstrate that motorsport is compatible with the environment."
For his part, the Deputy Minister of Sports, Ángel Sabroso, assured "that today there is a clear demonstration of the commitment that institutions such as the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Ministry of Ecological Transition of the Government of the Canary Islands, or Canarian sports in general, have with the protection of the most precious asset we have in our islands, which is their territory and their environment."
Likewise, the Minister of Sports of the Cabildo, Juan Monzón, emphasizes that "this is further proof that this government group is here to speak in positive and management terms, and to work hand in hand with the Federation and the competent administrations so that the world of motorsport in Lanzarote does not disappear." "This is an obligation and a real commitment of the Island Council."
Scope of the study
The study has three scopes: first, the direct emissions of greenhouse gases, that is, those that we can control, such as fuel consumption; then the indirect ones such as electricity consumption; and finally, those called secondary activities, which include the travel of fans or the production of merchandising.
A compilation of all the necessary information is carried out, the most important data being the number of cars that have participated and the number of kilometers that have been traveled. Although the consumption of liters of fuel per kilometer traveled was also taken into account, to know the total fuel consumed, this being the activity index.
Once the activity index was found, the calculation of the carbon footprint was obtained, which amounts to a total of 154.33 tons of CO2. Of that amount, 15 tons of CO2 are emitted on the island of Lanzarote. "In order to counteract this impact, 900 trees have been planted in Gran Canaria, thus compensating for the carbon footprint," the Cabildo indicated in a press release.
In any case, work is also being done on more mitigation measures such as awareness campaigns for fans, recycling points in all competitions for proper waste management, and reducing the consumption of paper and plastics.
