Prince Charles' Aston runs on a gallon of sack... wine, that is
Prince Charles is not new to the environmental debate. His blue, 38-year-old Aston Martin, however, has had nothing to do with being environmentally friendly. Until now. The car, a gift from the Queen on Charles' 21st birthday, has joined the growing fleet of cars that run on bioethanol, having been converted to run on surplus British wine.
The wine comes from an English vineyard in Wiltshire, and the EU limits how much wine a vineyard can produce, so the vineyard sells the overage to Green Fuels, which turns it into biofuels and supplies it to the Palace.
The Aston can go ten miles on a gallon of gas, which would equate to 45 bottles of wine to go the same distance. The wine, though, puts out 85-percent less CO2 and costs £1.10 per liter, which is slightly less than the cost of gas. However, Charles only goes 300 miles in the car every year, and it's not like he's worried about gas prices, so the car won't make a difference by itself -- but he's got his royal heart in the right place.
[Source: Daily Mail]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
SITEiNK 7:07PM (7/01/2008)
pretty slick!
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Duncan 7:16PM (7/01/2008)
Huh. You think the fine folks at Anheuser-Busch or Miller might have any excess beer lying around?
Can you see the ad for that? "Hi, I'm Kasey Kahne, and Budweiser's not just my sponsor. They're also my new fuel source!"
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mroverlord 7:21PM (7/01/2008)
My big question:
Why does the EU limit winery production?? Are they worried the populace will get drunk??
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tuna 7:36PM (7/01/2008)
Probably to control supply, demand and price. Everything is about money.
Ian 7:47PM (7/01/2008)
For the same reason OPEC controls oil production.....
CarbonBlack 7:59PM (7/01/2008)
I also was curious about that EU restriction.
Yet another reason to shoot down the NAU!
matt 8:04PM (7/01/2008)
socialism
Richard 8:51PM (7/01/2008)
no matt,
Socialism would be letting each citizen have a certain amount of that wine for free each year.
Communism would make sure that all of the wine went to all of the people all of the time - albeit through government apparatchiks (heh! heh! comrade!).
Capitalism would artificially restrict the supply to keep up the price, while being susceptible to lower priced competitors from outside (non-French) sources.
Richard 8:54PM (7/01/2008)
...and Protectionism would prohibit said foreign competitor from introcuding their wine to compete for sales in the Frog market place...usually via super-high tarrif.
Got all that!
User 9:21PM (7/01/2008)
For the same reason the US pays crop owners to not produce crops. :) (To control the supply.)
Rocketboy 10:44AM (7/02/2008)
Because it's the EU.
Jeff 7:33PM (7/01/2008)
That is cool in the sense of something you own that's unique, and also if there is a surplus then they are using that efficiently. As opposed to simply wasting gas we should all try something unique.
Jeff
jeffcrandall.wordpress.com
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Ian 7:57PM (7/01/2008)
The wine (8,000 excess liters) was purchased for ONE PENNY a Liter and boiled down.
One wonders what energy sources was used to achieve this.
LloydChiro 7:43PM (7/01/2008)
That gives new meaning to the term, "two buck chuck."
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Richard 8:58PM (7/01/2008)
Brilliant comment!!!!!
Hank 7:44PM (7/01/2008)
i can just imagine this conversation in the palace:
british energy minister: "your highness, petrol is more expensive than ever!"
prince charles: "let them drive wine!"
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Torrent 2:50AM (7/02/2008)
What I can't get over is 300 miles a year~ I go 300 Miles in a weekend! But where does he need to go that uses gas anyway? He already has that Pumpkin that morphs into a carriage or something, or is that a cartoon?
Ragardless. He needs to donate his Aston to a Charitable Cause- the TNCAMF (Torrent's Needs an Aston Martin Fund) It's a great cause. 100% of the profits go to me.
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Oh yeah about the wine........ It's nasty anyways. You're better off burning it. But good for him. Can I get a Wine Converter for my car, too?
Mbuku Kanyau Mbithuka 8:09PM (7/01/2008)
Man, Europe has restrictions on how much wine one came make? That is a joke!!
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Andrew 9:29AM (7/02/2008)
It's called capitalism. They just want to control the supply side to keep the prices in check. The US does the exact same thing with farming!
Mbuku Kanyau Mbithuka 8:11PM (7/01/2008)
So, this is how EU socialism works eh?
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