French gear up for biofuels retreat

It appears that even the EU is seeing the folly of mandating burning our food for fuel. From The Register:

The French are leading a retreat from the EU’s increasingly out of whack biofuel policy yesterday....

Brussels' target was for the EU to satisfy 10 per cent of its transport fuel needs with renewables such as biofuels by 2020.
...
The policy has been blamed for deforestation and a scaling back of food production in favour of fuel crops, pushing commodity prices through the roof and contributing to shortages worldwide that are already resulting in food riots in many developing countries.

And it's not just France.

Italy has already criticized the rush to biofuels, while the UK will produce a review of the UK’s biofuels policy is due this week.

Here's the fun part of the story:

It seems the only person happy with the rush to biofuels is Prince Charles, who, it has emerged, has switched his fleet of cars over to biofuels at a cost of £5,000.

His “green” stable of top notch autos run on a variety of fuels. The Jags, Range Rovers and an Audi all run on cooking oil. His Aston Martin apparently runs on surplus “English” wine, which is likely to be the one biofuel the French and Italians will come out in support of.

An Aston Marton that runs on surplus "English" wine. Now that's a biofuel I'll bet even the French support!
Read the whole article a The Register.

More on Chuck's fleet including the Vinomobile from FoxNews.com

(Note: Still posting about cars, not politics. :) )

Transformer - First Step?

Is BMW taking the first steps towards making Trans- formers a reality?

According to Fox News:

Instead of a metal or plastic body, BMW's latest concept, the GINA Light Visionary Model, drapes a flexible fabric material over a moveable wire mesh frame, creating a nearly seamless surface that can alter its form at the whim of the driver.

If you're feeling frisky, you can raise the tail like an angry dog, bulge the fenders as if you've injected them with steroids and reshape the sides of the car to transform it from a sleek roadster into an intimidating racer.

Full story.
Video of GINA in action.

(See, I told you I was tired of politics.)