Did you know that Prince Charles cut his tax bill by £5000 last year despite earning an additional £1 million because of some cunning accounting and he also managed to reduce his carbon footprint.

How did he cut his carbon footprint? By converting his sports car to run on cheese and wine.

No, really!

As the Prince states in his own annual review the car now runs on "100% bioethanol made from surplus wine".

Now the wine used is apparently "surplus" English wine which isn't allowed to be sold off for consumers. So old Charlie simply sticks it in his vehicles!

Apparently the exhaust smells like vodka and it cost Charles £5000 to convert his car.

But good on him I say, of course it helps if you have the cash to do this. Onto another alternative fuel nut…

Neil Young Loves Biodiesel

As Neil himself recently said "I feel like I have a lot to do, I really would like to work on the energy problem, on solutions to the oil need."

So what has Neil been doing about it?

He's created a prototype model called the Linc Volt, a 1959 Lincoln Continental which he's converted into an electrically powered, multifuel beast which has its own generators!

He also drives a gargantuan Hummer converted to run on biodiesel and explains his future mission thus…

"What I'm really focused on, is to work out a way to eliminate roadside refuelling and come up with a way to build a car that creates its own fuel and powers the owner's house."

To see more on the technology go take a look at www.lincvolt.com

Now it's true that we may not have the resources of these rather affluent folks but I'm always glad when famous people manage to bring renewable energies into the limelight.

What do you think?

(Thanks to The Times for the quotes)

The message screams at us from every sign at every corner gas station— gasoline prices are at an all-time high and there’s no indication that relief is anywhere in site. In fact, many experts are saying it could get worse—much worse—and that’s sending masses of motorists scrambling for ways to cut down on gas consumption.

But what to do, when old, outdated myths and outright scams are filling the airwaves and internet? Just today we saw a television news station advising drivers to fill up their gas tanks in the morning when gas is cooler and more condensed, as a way of getting more for your money.

This outdated advice may have been true once—we don’t know for sure—but we do know that today gas stations store fuel below ground in 30,000-gallon tanks. That means gas stays at relatively the same temperature and does not expand and contract with daily cycles.

We’ve seen all sorts of other bad advice that’s outdated, ill-advised or just outright fraud. Claims that devises which bleed air into the carburetor can dramatically increase gas mileage turn out not to be true when put to the test under closely monitored conditions.

Same for those fuel-line gadgets that supposedly help you save on gas by heating it before it enters the carburetor, or magnets that clamp on to the outside of the fuel line to magically change the molecular structure of gasoline, or metallic additives that claim they ionize gas for great savings. They’ve all been tested by the EPA, which found the only thing these devises reduced was the amount of cash in motorist’s wallets.

Face it—with a long-term gas crises looming ahead, there are plenty of governmental bodies and even private industries that have good reason to want to help you save on gas. Here are ten tips they all agree will really help you do the job:

1. Keep your tires properly inflated according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. Under inflated tires make the vehicle run less efficiently and waste gas.
   
2. Don’t be an aggressive driver. Jackrabbit starts, tire screeching stops and speeding can lower your gas mileage by 5% on city streets and as much as 33% on highways.
   
3. Avoid excessive idling. Idling your engine for 15 minutes wastes one gallon of gas. Whenever possible, time your traveling to avoid lingering at traffic lights and reduce the amount of time you let your car warm up. In warm weather, driving is actually the most efficient way to warm up a combustion engine.
   
4. Slow down. The faster you go, the less efficiently your vehicle uses gas. 55 is the most efficient mph on highways. Go above 60 and your fuel efficiency decreases rapidly.
   
5. Remove excess weight. If you’re used to driving around with your golf clubs and a chain saw in your trunk, you’re paying a heavy price for it. Removing an extra 100 pounds from your car will increase your fuel efficiency by as much as 2%.
   
6. Don’t use premium fuel unless your vehicle manufacturer requires it. And double or triple check your automakers advice by asking true auto experts—not just shade tree mechanics—for their best advice. We’re not pointing fingers at anyone, but some automakers with ties to big petroleum producers have been known to recommend premium fuels in cases where regular would do just as well.
   
7. Have a mechanic check your oxygen sensors. A faulty oxygen sensor will mistakenly send more gas to the engine then is needed. Replacing a faulty oxygen sensor can save you as many as six fill-ups a year.
   
8. Make sure your air filter is clean. A dirty air filter dramatically reduces fuel efficiency, so don’t just blindly follow some predetermined schedule for putting in a new one. Consider your actual driving conditions. Driving on dirt roads—or just plain dirty roads—or in heavily polluted cities will get your air filter filthy a lot faster than you might expect.
   
9. Check on your “forgotten filters.” Most motorists know to check the air filter when they do a tune-up, but not many think to check on the fuel filter, the PCV valve and the breather filter. Replacing these “forgotten” filters once a year or every 12,000 miles can help improve your gas mileage by up to 15 percent.
   
10. Get a new gas cap—and make it one with a lock. Old gas caps can get out of shape. As gas fumes expand in your tank, they can escape past a faulty seal and waste precious fuel. Some studies suggest you can save as much as 17 gallons of gas a year just by replacing an old gas cap. And consider making that new gas cap a locking model because sadly, as gas prices go up, so do gas thefts.

     

There seems to have been a glut of new products released just recently in the alternative fuel market.

One that's been around for sometime though is the Diesel Secret Energy.

This claims to be better than biodiesel, easier to create and more cost effective…but is it more harmful to the environment?

Here's more info on the subject… Diesel Secret Energy Review

…but if you've ever tried the stuff, please leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

 

Run Your Car On Water

Another book on how to run your car using water was released recently.

Take a look here… Run Your Car On Water

Promising to give you the knowledge to be able to create a water hybrid for less than $150!

This could save you over 40% on fuel costs.

This product we haven't tested, so again, if you have any comments to make about this product (is it a viable alternative or just pie in the sky?)…then please leave them below…

 

How To Make Biodiesel Video

I also thought you might like to see this…

Found it on YouTube and it shows a guy running you through his own little set up of biodiesel making kit in his garage. Take a look…