Goodwood organiser striving to make motorsport events carbon neutral

The Duke of Richmond, organiser of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, says he is focussed on making his petrol-powered events more sustainable.

The man behind the popular motorsport events says he wants to promote the ‘joy of second hand’ as he looks to boost his shows’ environmental credentials.

Speaking to the PA news agency, the duke said he believed Goodwood’s motorsport events could ‘definitely become carbon neutral soon’ thanks to efforts made elsewhere across his estate.

He said: “There is a whole thrust at Goodwood around sustainability – it has always been a major thing for us across the estate.

“We’ve got a huge organic farm, we’ve planted 75,000 trees, we run a whacking great biomass generator for all our electricity and we’re running biofuels for our generators at the events.

“So, could Goodwood deliver a carbon neutral event? Absolutely, because we’re doing so much on the other side.”

The duke says his Revival event – which celebrates historic racing and vintage lifestyles – is also the perfect example of Goodwood’s sustainability drive.

“It’s much better to keep an old car going than buy a new one,” he said. “That is far more sustainable – keeping cars on the road, rather than scrapping them.

“Second hand is cool. It’s now seen as the chic thing to do, from second-hand clothes to second-hand cars, and I think the Revival is the biggest second-hand event in the world. We’re proud of that.”

The duke, whose grandfather opened the Goodwood Motor Circuit in 1948, is celebrating 75 years of motorsport at his events in 2023.

As he looks ahead to the shows that will increasingly feature more electric cars, he says he has mixed feelings about their impact – despite admitting he has invested in a number of unnamed electric car companies himself.

“The whole EV (electric vehicle) thing is great – it’s super fast, and it’s fun, but electric cars are all the same to me,” he added.

“They are going to move you around from A to B, and they’re fantastically efficient and a lot of it is good fun, but it’s not the same thing.

“With mobility becoming increasingly duller in the future, classic cars and the joy that they bring will be niche, but it will probably get stronger.”