mono motorcycles are firm believers in being part of a sustainable future whilst also protecting our business, our customers, and our way of life.

From recycling our oil, tyres, metals and cardboard to small cc electric conversions, we are constantly mindful of our environmental impact.

However, with the UK transport system producing over 30% of the UK’s entire Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, we all need to do our part to reduce GHGs.

The UK Government is proposing a ban on the sale of all new petrol motorcycles from 2035. However, the internal combustion engine (ICE) is not the enemy, it’s the fossil fuel we’re putting in it that is.

Despite the UK Government pushing for an all-electric future, rather than completely reinventing the wheel what if we could continue running the ICE version of motorcycles with a sustainable liquid fuel?

Companies around the globe are rapidly developing bio-fuel alternatives to petrol and diesel. One area these liquid bio-fuel/bio-gasoline alternatives are making huge advances in is the motorsport sector.

As part of F1’s plans to be Net Zero Carbon by 2030, the sport is pioneering a ‘drop-in’ 100% sustainable fuel that can not only be used in F1 cars from 2026 but crucially can be utilised by most road cars across the world. (1)

MotoGP™ are also investing in liquid fuel technologies. By 2024, fuel in all MotoGP™ classes will be of minimum 40% non-fossil origin and by 2027, fuel in all MotoGP™ classes will be of 100% non-fossil origin (2)

Companies developing sustainable drop in fuels is a game changing opportunity for the transport sector and can help dramatically reduce emissions now and in the future.

We have recently been working with Coryton, a UK based sustainable fuel manufacturer. Their sustainable fuel SUSTAIN^® is being designed for such sectors as the classic car, motorsport, heavy and light duty and other road using vehicle markets.

Coryton’s slogan “While the world talks about the electric future, SUSTAIN^® is a solution for now” will resonate with many in the transport sector.

From manufacturers and dealers to mechanics and end users, those involved in the manufacture, sale or purchase of an ICE would certainly welcome a sustainable liquid fuel future.

Coryton’s SUSTAIN^® is part of Coryton’s responsibly blended bioethanol and bio-gasoline portfolio which can enable today’s vehicles to produce less greenhouse gas while using the infrastructure already in place. (3)

Coryton’s SUSTAIN^® has been gaining traction in the motorsport arena. The drop in fuel was used by Prodrive and the BRX team to provide a near net zero fuel solution for the 2022 Dakar Rally. Prodrive and BRX needed a new sustainable fuel that could withstand the extreme heat and formidable desert conditions, whilst ensuring there was no compromise with performance. (4)

Coming second place in Dakar 2022 showed how there need be no drop in performance with SUSTAIN^® racing and if four cars can save 85 tonnes of carbon by using Coryton fuels – imagine what a whole series run on them could do? (5)

Having been inspired by the Coryton SUSTAIN^® product, we started a conversation with their Sales Director Luke Goldsmith to see if they would like to collaborate on a video for the motorcycle sector.

Coryton were pleased that a motorcycle company such as ours could see the positives in their product range and a collaboration began.

With James from Nix Vids on board, storyboards having been drawn up, questions being asked of Luke and a Dyno session being booked; a date was set for filming.

Our vision for the video was to explore how the ICE can still be a part of the transport mix, just running on a sustainable fuel. We sought to explore how sustainable fuels can dramatically reduce emissions now and not just in a 2030/2035 future. We wanted to show how Coryton SUSTAIN^® fuel run in Daniel’s Triumph Thruxton R would not alter performance. However, what we weren’t ready for was the unexpected outcome of the Dyno!

 

The ICE future has again been in the media these past few weeks and it would seem that there might be a reprieve on the cards.

On the 28^th of February 2023 Germany announced that they would abstain from the final vote on the EU’s ban on new petrol or diesel cars as of 2035. They have abstained from the vote unless the European Commission proposes how new combustion engine cars can be registered even after 2035 if they run exclusively on e-fuels. (6)

Transport Minister Volker Wissing told journalists “The European Commission must deliver, to enable a registration of combustion engine vehicles even after 2035”, he said. “We need all options,” including battery-electric, hydrogen and combustion engines running on e-fuels, he added. (6)

Since the 28th February the push to incorporate the ICE as a continued transport option, albeit running on e-fuels, has been adopted by several other EU countries including Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. (7)

With the development of sustainable fuels and with the push from Europe on the e-fuel agenda, the future of the ICE may be a bit brighter.

But what can you do? How can you help spread the word about Coryton SUSTAIN^® and a sustainable fuel future?

You can start with sharing the YouTube video to motorbike groups/publications, motorbike dealers and even Politicians and Policy Makers. You can find out more about sustainable fuels and talk about it with your friends and family, sharing the knowledge and starting the conversation.

We need to get the powers-that-be to take the idea seriously and stop looking for one silver bullet. We all need to do our part to reduce emissions and we need to use everything at our disposal to tackle climate change.

mono motorcycles would like to thank Luke Goldsmith, David Richardson and Shona Nutter from Coryton for collaborating with us on this project.

We would also like to thank James from Nix Vids for his amazing filmography and for bringing the entire project together.

We would also like to thank Hi-Spec Coatings and Vapour Blasting, The Wheel Specialist – Fareham, Moto Velo – Wheel Builders, S.Jago Designs and Dunlop for the outsourced work on the Triumph Thruxton R. Special thanks to CMW Chichester for the Dyno session.

1. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.formula-1-on-course-to-deliver-100-sustainable-fuels-for-2026.1szcnS0ehW3I0HJeelwPam.html
2. https://racingtogether.motogp.com/makingadifference/fuel-for-the-future/
3. https://coryton.com/
4. https://coryton.com/lab/case-study/dakar-rally-2022/
5. https://coryton.com/lab/news/sustain-racing-launches/
6. https://www.euractiv.com/section/road-transport/news/adoption-on-the-brink-germany-to-abstain-on-combustion-engine-ban/
7. https://europe.autonews.com/environmentemissions/germany-teams-italy-and-others-change-eu-ice-ban

For more information about the Coryton vision, please go to their website https://coryton.com/