Happy Earth Day Mr. Clarkson!

Paul Hamwa · Apr 22, 2011

The recent catastrophic events in Japan have made many people think again about where our energy comes from. Everything is juicing the grid, from running our powerful gaming rigs to our big cousin, real life motorsports. It's becoming ever more difficult to justify the voracious consumption of resources.
With Nascar 2011 finally changing from archaic and outdated leaded gasoline (which most car manufacturers stopped producing engines for in 1975) by replacing it with clean burning ethanol and motorsport stadiums in the US starting to think about alternative energy, it poses the question: Will going green ever be accepted by the hardcore fans of motor sports? My hope is yes, and the future is starting to look promising.

So I thought it fitting to big up Infineon Raceway on Earth Day, as they launch the installation of 1700 solar panels. Sometimes things change for the better in the most unlikely places.

Photo Credit: Clint Graves

Infineon Raceway will celebrate Earth Day this Friday, April 22, with the completion of a major solar-panel installation that will make the Sonoma Valley facility one of the most sustainable motor-racing facilities in the country.

Through a partnership with Panasonic Corporation of North America, the raceway has completed an installation of nearly 1,700 solar panels as well as a new dual-sided, solar-powered LED display board along Highway 37.The installation will offset approximately 41-percent of the raceway’s total energy use.

“It has been very exciting to see all of this work unfold and now to look out on this beautiful array of solar panels and think about the power they are generating every minute the sun is out,” said Steve Page, president and general manager of Infineon Raceway.

The solar installation, which is a part of the raceway’s Accelerating Sustainable Performance program, included the installation of solar panels atop the Turn 10 Sound Wall, Main Grandstand, Jim Russell Racing Drivers School Tech Center, Raceway Café and Infineon Raceway’s main offices.

A total of 1,652 of Panasonic’s Sanyo solar panels were installed, which will be visible to race fans and visitors throughout race weekends and track days.

The installation continues the raceway's march toward sustainability. The raceway has recycled more than 208 tons of materials since 2004, uses more than 3,000 sheep to help maintain grasses and fire lanes around the facility and has built 15 owl boxes around the property to encourage nesting and, thus, eliminating the need for pesticides in controlling rodents.

(quoted from http://www.infineonraceway.com/media/news/588286.html)