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Thanks to a sponsorship partnership between series debutant Tom Walker and Advanced Global Trading (AGT), the brokerage will calculate the team’s CO2 emissions over the event’s duration and retire the appropriate number of Voluntary Emissions Reduction (VER) Carbon Credits to offset any potential environmental damage.

With the next series taking place March 31 ­ April 1, 2012, at Brands Hatch Indy, Walker has been training hard in order to achieve his ambitious target of finishing top ten in his first year competing for the championship.

As the first team in this racing class to offset emissions, Tom Walker’s manager, Richard Fletcher, explained the importance of achieving their team goals while leading the way in the series from an environmental perspective. “As far as we know the only other carbon neutral racing operations are McLaren in F1 and Hope Racing in Le Mans, which AGT also sponsors, so we’re delighted at signing this partnership. Motor racing is at the cutting edge of developing environmentally friendlier mass production vehicles, with motorsport being responsible for car manufacturers learning how to make cars perform better while reducing fuel consumption. Tom becoming Britain’s only carbon neutral domestic racing driver will generate awareness, which will benefit sponsors, the sport in general and will hopefully encourage other teams and drivers to invest in doing the same,” he says.

AGT director for UK and Ireland, Tony Fairhurst, explained how AGT will offset the team’s carbon dioxide emissions for the series: “After the races we’ll prepare a report detailing the total CO2 emissions produced using data such as fuel burn, vehicle transportation, travel and generators used onsite. We will then retire the required amount of Carbon Credits - one credit per tonne of carbon dioxide produced ­ which ploughs the money back into projects designed to help the environment.

"It's AGT's continuing goal to help organisations and drivers like Tom continue to make these progressive steps and we hope such emission-offsetting measures will one day span all CO2-producing motorsports across the world. We believe this is a significant step towards helping global motorsport, which generates a huge carbon footprint internationally, to become more environmentally friendly and we're in discussions with all divisions, from F1 to power boating, with most being highly receptive to the concept.”

Mr Fletcher added: “As a forward thinking team, we are passionate about the motorsport industry, rather than merely commercial aspects, and of course the effect on the environment is a very important part of this. We are actively seeking out commercial sponsors and partners who are in businesses related to energy efficiency and have been exploring this route even before the discussions with AGT began.”

After the 2011 competition, which saw five drivers vying for the title in the final race, the 2012 AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK is looking like another exciting season, with new entrants including JWT up against last year’s Teams Champion, Team Pyro, who are set to run a full six car team, while Scuderia Vittoria also return with an expanded operation of up to six cars.

Using race cars based on the road-going Clio Renault Sport 200, the championship continues to be a breeding ground for future Touring Car drivers and is a prominent support race on the British Touring Car Championship platform, benefiting from live, comprehensive coverage including HD on the ITV sport network.