Prince of Wales converts his Jags to "green"
Traditionally, before Colin Chapman introduced a Lotus 49 in colors of Gold Leaf Tobacco, racing cars were painted in colors based on the home country of the team running them. German racers were silver, Italian red, French blue and of course cars from the British Isles were always the legendary British Racing Green. Now the Jaguars and Land Rovers that ferry the future king of England (if he manages to out-live his mother, that is) will represent a new breed of green.
Prince Charles is now awaiting the delivery of the first of his fleet of chauffeur-driven (he is still a royal after all) Jags outfitted to run on B100 biodiesel. Ultimately all the vehicles he uses will run on B100, made from rapeseed oil (known in the US as canola). Starting with next year's annual accounts he will be publishing details of his household's carbon emissions and setting reduction targets. In addition to the biodiesel cars he's also taking public trains to get from his country home of Highgrove to London and switching over to sustainable sources of electricity for his residences.
[Source: All Headline News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CM 3:52PM (12/11/2006)
A Camry Hybrid would be "greener", especially if converted to a "pluggable". But the Royals must buy British!
Well, Jaguar is a division of Ford, therefore has access to the Ford hybrid technology. Maybe The Prince could apply a little persuasion to upgrade his Jag to a hybrid - or better, a pluggable hybrid.
Jaguar needs to enter the 21 century and finally join the hybrid revolution.
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JRR 4:19PM (1/30/2007)
How the heck do you figure that a Camry Hybrid is cleaner than B100? First, B100 is a totally renewable fuel that only contributes the carbon used by the tractors to grow the feedstock and transport it and the methanol used to convert it to a methyl ester. The Camry runs on GASOLINE and gets ~30-40mpg making it no greener and no better than a smaller straight gasoline engine like a Corolla or a Yaris. On top of that the Hybrid has a huge battery and ~1000 volt system that makes it a huge hazard in an accident. Let's see add a steel container with gas and air to high voltage and lots of toxins and heavy metals in a huge battery, smash together with a lorry or semi and that = GREEN???? I don't get it, can you explain it to me?
You seem to be another person who only listens to the 30 second sound bites and doesn't do ANY research or thinking on your own. Not that I'm against Hybrid technology altogether since I put my parents into a Honda Accord Hybrid last year, however I drive a M-B E320 CDI running B99 and I sleep like a baby at night (though there is always room for improvement - at least I've made the first steps and put my money where my mouth is). Now I'm going to convert my hotrod 1976 BMW 2002 to ethanol or E85 so I'm more out of the petroleum loop and contribute fewer greenhouse gases to our demise.
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oldnews 12:03AM (12/12/2006)
How would a Camry Hybrid be greener? It's still sucking fossil fuel. He could do even better with a smaller car, but this is still a forward step. I wish the "royalty" in this country would at least acknowledge the problem.
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Nathan 4:04AM (12/12/2006)
This is far more carbon-neutral than any hybrid, given that most hybrids run on unleaded petrol. Bravo for going B100, maybe the public will start to see the benefits soon as well.
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Mirko 8:53AM (12/12/2006)
The diesel Jag is a great choice as a "green" luxury car. It's very light for it's class, because it's built like an aircraft - glued aluminium, instead of welded. So it doesn't need a huge engine. The 2.7 diesel is just fine and frugal.
http://www.carpages.co.uk/jaguar/jaguar-xj-diesel-part-3-15-06-05.asp
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Accordsforall 12:20PM (12/12/2006)
Hmmmm
**Thick British Accent**I think its fantastic that the Royals are going green in their.. Rovas, and their Jag-U-Are's.
But Jag-U-Are has LONG been a member of PAG, and isnt making much money at all. I havent wanted to look at a Jag since the XJ220 concept and or the XK initially came out. (I believe) Ford owns them outright an therefor Jag gets to spunge off of Ford. Not to mention.. the HYBRID TECHNOLOGY.. IS TOYOTA'S. And being socially responsible.. in a Jaguar is the most blatent OXYMORON since.. intelligent government.
I think its faaaaantastic that the Royals are still buying their British Racing Green Jags.. and its maaahvelous thats its going green.
But its all a PC stunt that in the long run might make him feel better.. but I think has very little merit on the whole.. "green event".
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CM 7:42PM (12/12/2006)
Hbrid technology can be applied to diesels as well, reducing fuel consumption even more.
Hybrid Synergy Drive is "greener" than diesel, because diesel (and bio-diesel) have an emissions problem - very high levels of NOx, soot, and CO. Worse, catalytic converters get plugged by soot, so can't be used, unless expensive filters are added.
Daimlers "BlueTec" is a step in the right direction, but only makes diesel barely acceptable. Toyotas Hybrid Synergy Drive has far lower emissions, and a "pluggable" version would be even lower.
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oldnews 10:35PM (12/12/2006)
"Hbrid technology can be applied to diesels as well,
reducing fuel consumption even more."
But the Camry Hybrid uses gasoline.
"Hybrid Synergy Drive is "greener" than diesel, because diesel (and bio-diesel) have an emissions problem - very high levels of NOx, soot, and CO. Worse, catalytic converters get plugged by soot, so
can't be used, unless expensive filters are added."
Compared to today's B100, Hybrid Synergy trades climate for air quality emissions. Both are important, but nothing today addresses both at the same time. The problems with diesel exhaust arise from (until just now -- even the Euro 50 ppm standard poisons catalysts) high sulfur fuel: gasoline exhaust has been treated for 30 years. ULSD (or biodiesel) will finally enable diesel exhaust to be treated."
"Toyotas Hybrid Synergy Drive has far lower emissions, and a "pluggable" version would be even lower."
Only from an air quality perspective, given today's fuel-limited diesel technology. B100 has far lower climate emissions, and with exhaust treatment will have comparable air quality emissions.As for plugin -- the Camry Hybrid isn't, and plugin B100 is a better choice than plugin gasoline.
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Tim 11:19AM (12/13/2006)
At least they are personally trying to "walk the walk." (I hope it’s not just P.R.) That's more than I can say for most of our "leaders." Yes, PHEVs are better IF the primary electric source is home based renewable like PV solar (not fossils) and IF the liquid fuel is properly sourced and utilized B100 or E100 (not fossil fuels or corn based ethanol). There is enough info on this blog to convince you that corn based ethanol it is a loser. The key is to quit burning things that have been long dead. These long dead things are sequestering green house gasses. As we burn them, we release these gasses and the planet returns to the state it was when these things were alive. Some like it hot!
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BeetleGo 9:16AM (12/25/2006)
BOTH Hybrids and Diesels are a step in the right direction, sheesh! This arguement that one is better that the other is TIRED. Both are better that the standard gasoline engine. Speaking of which, cylinder deactivation would be a great addition to both of these car types. Diesel hybrids are coming but they will be the most expensive choice of all. Both diesels and hybrids cost more. Add them together and POOF = very expensive.
I drive a biodiesel powered vehicle. If you drive in the city mostly a diesel is correct, but if you spend a lot of time on the highway like most people do, a biodiesel powered car is the best choice. Waiting to see what our choices will be in coming years. The change could not occur soon enough....
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BeetleGo 10:47AM (12/25/2006)
Sorry, I meant to say that a HYBRID is a good choice if you do a lot of intercity driving; otherwise a (bio)diesel choice makes the most sense.
~BeetleGO
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CM 2:54AM (12/28/2006)
Here in California, diesel cars are not available. Why? They don't meet our clean air standards - too much NOx and other pollutants. Daimler and Honda have just introduced diesels that can just barely meet our minimum standards.
My Prius, on the other hand, emits very little NOx, far below even the cleanest of diesels. NOx is a major contributor to smog, and a major greenhouse gas as well!
As for it being hazardous after "being smashed by a semi", well ANY car would be hazardous after being smashed! Silly argument. The NiMH batteries contain no toxic cadmium or lead, and weigh only 110 lbs.
My future plans to get "out of the petroleum loop" will involve electrics - still in every way cleaner than diesel.
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docbiodiesel 6:40AM (1/19/2008)
Great to discover a new source of info and articles and support for Biodiesel! I am based in SW England and I can tell you it is an uphill struggle to get Biodiesel either noticed, recognised or used. The gov't is the main problem (well there's something new!) in not providing enough incentive to get mainstream support. There are a lot of small producers but the whole situation is "cottage industry" not just from a production point of view but the mind set of the country.
I have just set up a blog on making Biodiesel in an effort to promote the subject so if any readers are interested they can find it here: http://making-biodiesel-news.blogspot.com
I look forward to your comments/advice/help/disagreements even.
Cheers docbiodiesel
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docbiodiesel 6:38AM (1/19/2008)
A small post script to my earlier comment- the poor situation regarding Biodiesel in the UK is superbly illustrated by the fact that the article on Prince Charles going green has more prominence on a US based blog that the mainstream UK press industry - says it all really.
docbiodiesel
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