King Charles to Convert State Bentleys to Biofuel

Veteran environmental warrior King Charles is having his two Bentley state limousines converted to sustainable biofuel.

The pair will be at the vanguard of the King's official switch to cleaner powertrains including battery-electric vehicles where appropriate. These armored Bentleys were commissioned as state cars for the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2002.

However, the monarch now follows a lead by the iconic British brand that converted its entire press fleet and its heritage fleet to biofuel last year aiming to reduce emissions by 85%.

It installed a 1,200 L (317 U.S. gallons) fuel pump at its Crewe plant in northwest England to replace ordinary gasoline in its press cars and the Bentley Heritage Collection. It also ran its six-strong fleet at last year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed using the fuel and successfully completed all 32 hill-climbs. The 739-bhp, W-12-engined Batur fueled with the second-generation biofuel completed a 55.0-second run putting it among the top-three production cars of the weekend.

This biofuel conforms to the global EN228 standard for gasoline, meaning it’s a straightforward replacement for normal pump fuel. No engine modifications are necessary, even for the oldest surviving Bentley, the 1920 EXP2.

The automaker claims any Bentley ever built will run as powerfully and smoothly on the second-generation biofuel as it does on normal pump gasoline, while dramatically reducing its carbon footprint. Unlike first-generation biofuels, which are made from food crops grown on arable land, second-generation biofuels use waste products, including agriculture and forestry waste and food industry byproducts.

The BBC reports Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, says the King’s environmental initiatives are “driven by a determination to place sustainability at the heart of our operations and inspired by His Majesty’s leadership in this sphere.”

King Charles has previously said that people thought he was “completely dotty” when he started talking about environmental issues in the 1970s.