The world is experiencing a changing of the guard. With the Silverstone Formula 1 Grand Prix two weeks behind us, and the Formula E London E-Prix this weekend, we see the world undergoing a rapid migration from fossil fuel power to electrification. Since the industrial revolution, fossil fuels have been at the heart of powering our homes, our cars and almost every other part of our lives. But now the dominant technology in almost every area of our lives is increasingly one that is powered by electricity and motors, as opposed to petrol and gas.
Harding Heating has researched this topic to help us answer the question on the tip of every homeowner’s tongue - should I choose a gas boiler or an air-source heat pump?
The need for speed: Formula 1 versus Formula E?
We started with a simple game of top trumps. Formula 1 versus Formula E. Petrol versus electric. The past versus the future?
| Formula 1 | Formula E |
0-60mph | 2.6 seconds 🏆 | 2.8 seconds ⛔️ |
Top race speed | 223 mph 🏆 | 200 mph ⛔️ |
Lap time (Monaco GP) | 1:15.650 🏆 | 1:28.773 ⛔️ |
* All stats are when cars are set up for race day
That didn’t quite work out as expected, with the petrol heads taking the crown on all the key measures. But that’s not where the story ends. When we look further afield, records are falling again and again to electric vehicles, such as the now iconic Goodwood Festival of Speed 2022 winner and record holder, the brilliantly named McMurtry Spéirling, which is breathtaking to watch.
The story becomes even more stark when we expand our research to include road-legal cars. The four fastest accelerating (from 0 to 60 mph) cars in history are all electric vehicles. And two of those are four-door saloons which could easily be your supermarket wheels, complete with baby seats and golf clubs.
The need for clean
With our homes, of course, our key criteria are slightly different. One of the big questions we are now asking ourselves is - what impact are my home and lifestyle having on the environment? Well, this is where Formula E and electric vehicles come into their own. Overall, Formula E produces 92.4% less CO2 emissions (or equivalent) than Formula 1, with the Formula E cars creating a tenth of the CO2 of Formula 1 cars, and on every other metric, Formula E wins hands down.
Tons of CO2 equivalent | Formula 1 | Formula E | Variance |
Power unit emissions | 1,795 | 196 | -89.1% |
Events | 18,728 | 784 | -95.8% |
Logistics | 115,448 | 14,504 | -87.4% |
Business travel | 71,064 | 2,548 | -96.4% |
Facilities & factories | 49,514 | 1,568 | -96.8% |
Total for season | 256,551 | 19,600 | -92.4% |
Expanding that thinking into heating systems, what impact do our choices have on the environment? A heat pump powered by the national grid produces a third of the CO2 equivalent of a gas boiler connected to the mains gas network. But a heat pump combined with photovoltaic panels produces almost no CO2 equivalent pollution.
The transition from fossil fuels to electrification is far from complete. Technology in the new world of heat pumps is evolving fast, as it is with electric vehicles, Formula E cars, batteries and across the emerging electrified world. We’ve explored in the past that Heat Pumps won’t necessarily reduce your monthly heating bills. However, one thing is already clear – to minimise your impact on the environment, choosing electrification is the only option.