Under the Influence
| Forget fast-food waste or kitchen grease: Real aristocrats use wine to make their biofuels. Britains Prince Charles recently jumped on the biofuels bandwagon, converting his seldom-used 1960 Aston Martin DB6 to a biofuel system that allows him to run his classic convertible on wine rather than gasoline. "Charles only [travels] two or three hundred miles a year in the Aston but he wanted it to be environmentally friendly," an aide told the Daily Mail. The prince gets his wine from an English vintner who would otherwise have to destroy any wine produced above the European Union quota. Charles switch to a biofuel may curb a smidgen of carbon dioxide emissions, but it likely wont save him much money: The wine costs only slightly less than the gasoline hed buy for his classic. |
Right
| High gas prices arent forcing UPS off the roadways. Theyre just forcing the companys drivers to the right side of the road. According to executives at the international package delivery service, computer mapping software and traffic modeling has led them to conclude that delivery drivers should avoid making left turns. By mapping out routes that aim for only right-hand turns, the company saved 3.3 million gallons of gasoline in 2007. According to UPS research, drivers waste time and gas idling while waiting for left-hand turn signals. Even with the more circuitous path, the company estimates that it saved more than $9 million in 2007. |
HT: WORLD Magazine.