KEY POINTS:
Prince Charlie's a darling with the greenies. The Prince of Wales got behind the wheel of Saab's BioPower 9-3 convertible for a World Environment Day rally in Britain - and promptly gave the car the green light. He already runs some of his private vehicles on biofuels. The BioPower Saab uses E85, a blend of 85 per cent ethanol (from plant matter) and 15 per cent petrol.
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The 1971 Ford Falcon XY GT Phase III sedan pictured in last week's column has sold for A$525,000 ($586,000) at auction in Melbourne. It was one of only 39 that came out of the Ford factory painted "ultra white". A red 1971 XY GT Falcon with an estimate of A150,000 sold for A$211,500.
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An Aston Martin race car has made motorsport history by becoming the first bio-fuelled car to win a major motorsport event in Britain. The lightweight DB9 won last weekend's round of the British GT championship at Snetterton.
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Nissan will install 606 solar panels at its Barcelona plant as part of ongoing efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. The panels will cover a surface of 3000sq m and generate 308,000kWh of electricity a year while reducing CO2 emissions by 110 tonnes. Of the total, 480 are photovoltaic panels, which convert sunlight into electricity. The rest are thermal panels for heating water.
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More than 2400 cyclists were seriously injured or killed on British roads last year - one of the reasons bicycle use is decreasing, says a road safety survey. Cycle deaths rose by 30 per cent between 2003 and 2005. The average number of cycle trips people make each year has fallen from 18 in 1995 to 14 in 2005. Two thirds of respondents said they would not cycle because roads were too dangerous.
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Low CO2 emissions are less important to buyers than annual running costs, says the Women and Motoring survey in Britain. Sales of superminis and fuel-efficient diesel cars in Britain in 2007 have risen by 11.3 and 8.2 per cent respectively. But low emissions run a poor second to motoring costs. Just 13 per cent of respondents said low-CO2 figured in their choice; 29 per cent said the cost of motoring was more important; 45 per cent said they were equally important.
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Claude White, 34, turned up at a hospital in Tennessee minus a big toe. He told emergency staff it was torn off when his foot was mangled in a car accident. But the only accident police had come across was a forklift overturned in the middle of a road. Later, police found an exact match for White's missing toe, inside the shoe that was underneath the forklift. White was charged with stealing and wilful damage.
