Formula One to Go Green 一级方程式赛车也要环保

By Jonny Hogg

媒体英语会带大家一起学习BBC撰稿人在报道世界大事时常用到的单词和短语。

Background: F1 也就是一级方程式赛车，因其动力十足、昂贵和耗油的特点向来都不是一项与环保相关联的运动。但是现在，一级方程式赛车的组织者宣布他们正在计划减少这项比赛的碳排放量。

The Formula One Teams Association believes it can reduce carbon emissions by fifteen percent in the next three years.

A 'carbon audit' was carried out looking at every aspect of the sport, from the race weekend to the challenge of moving from country to country during the season.

Teams' buying in equipment was the largest contributor to carbon emissions. Moving to each race was anotherfactor, as was electricity usage - much of it to power wind tunnels to carry out aerodynamic testing.

Improvements may include rationalising the race calendar so that teams have shorter distances to travel.

Given that the cars themselves burn around one hundred and sixty litres of fuelduring each grand prix, it is perhaps surprising that racing and testing them counts for less than one percent of emissions.

Nonetheless rules may be changed from 2013, restricting the amount of fuel that teams can use, forcing the development of more efficient racing engines.

These moves to promote a more carbon conscious Formula One seem to be being driven by pressure from sponsors.

There are also hopes that the sport can become an attractive testing ground for more efficient technologies.