Charles runs car on wine to cut costs

London: Prince Charles has found a grape way to beat rising fuel costs���he runs his car on wine.

He tanks up his beloved Aston Martin, a birthday gift from the Queen, with surplus supplies from vineyards. The prince's Jaguars, Audi and Range Rover now run entirely on biodiesel made from used cooking oil. Interestingly, Prince Charles' income grew last year, while his carbon footprint shrank.

His private secretary Sir Michael Peat said, "Charles was very keen to move on to bioethanol fuel. The one we���re supplied with just happens to be made with wine."

The green prince���s Jaguar, Audi and Range Rover already run on used cooking oil. And while rainwater flushes the loos at Highgrove, woodchip boilers costing ��285,000 each have been installed at his Highgrove and Birkhall residences.

Charles��� bid to go green cost him almost ��500,000 last year, according to personal accounts revealed yesterday. Staff costs also rose from ��4.8 to ��5.4million. Four employees were taken on just to deliver boxed veg.

Sir Michael insisted Charles was feeling the pinch just like everybody else. He added, "We are not immune from economic reality."

An annual review of Charles' accounts released on Monday said the prince made more than 16 million pounds (US$32 million) from property and investments between April 1, 2007 and March 31 this year, 7 per cent more than the previous year. Charles paid 3.4 million pounds (US$6.8 million) in tax, 5,000 pounds (US$10,000) less than the year before.

The prince's office said greater use of green energy and fewer plane and car journeys helped Charles cut the amount of carbon dioxide he produced by 18 per cent to 2,795 metric tons (3,081 U.S. tons).

Charles has promised to reduce his emissions of greenhouse gases by 25 percent between 2007 and 2012.