Prince of Wales converts to waste oil biodiesel, wine ethanol

In England, the Prince of Wales is reported to be fueling his Aston Martin D86 with ethanol made from wine. The prince’s collection of Jaguars, and his Audi and Range Rover run on waste oil biodiesel, part of a $1 million investment by the Prince in converting his fuel and heating systems to eco-friendly sources. The Prince’s staff said that he had reduced his carbon emissions by 18 percent against a targeted 25 percent reduction by 2012. The wine used to make the Prince’s ethanol is waste wine that is unsuitable for consumption.

European royals have been on different sides of the biofuels debate.

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York said, at a recent forum, “We need to be more careful in food production and mindful that there are things we can do that harm production. For example, Brazil is displacing livestock into the rainforest, and that means the rainforest is coming down, and that means less rain on the plains so they are not able to grow the bioethanol. It’s a balance we have to think very carefully about.”

The Crown Prince of Holland claimed that the amount of biofuel in an SUV tank uses as much water as it takes to produce enough grain to support one person for a year.

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