It would seem that the United Kingdom’s Prince Charles was worried about the environmental impact of his Aston Martin DB5 and decided that he wanted to fuel it with bioethanol. Aston Martin got word of it and took a little preemptive action; they called a company could Green Fuels and the rest, as they say, is history.

Green Fuels picked up 8,000 liters of surplus white wine from a vineyard near their factory (the quality of which I can only imagine) and distilled it. 8,000 liters of cheap plonk thus became hundreds of liters of 99.8% pure ethanol; suitable for fueling a car. To add to the mix, the company also distilled some fermented whey which was collected from local cheesemakers, gave the DB5 a tune-up and added 15% gasoline to the mix.

At $2.20 per liter, the mix isn’t cheap, but it was a mighty fine thing to do for the planet. Of course, his future majesty could always pick up his own Microfueler to fuel the royal jalopy, but that would not be the same as making use of surplus wine and wasted cheese whey. [The Guardian, BBC (Image)]

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