Sounds a little far-fetched -- but it's true. You see the EU is in desperate need of a substitute for common gasoline for its cars and diesel for the huge trucks. Given the shaky security of oil supply, it's no surprise that engineers are taking some unusual approaches in trying to find a replacement for fossil-based fuels.
So, a biofuel, such as the wine-based fuel developed by New Industrial Energy Company No. 3, is a perfectly viable choice. Right now, biofuels are the only available large-scale substitute for petroleum and diesel in the transportation sector.
The European Commission has established legally binding minimum targets for renewable energy in its new Energy Road Map. The target is set at 20 per cent of overall consumption of petroleum and diesel by 2020.
This means turning that nasty old bottle of wine left over from your last dinner party and dumping it into your fuel tank might not be a bad idea after all.
In fact, one company is doing just that... making biofuel from unsold wine or grapes not good enough for making wine... and making a ton of money for its investors.
This plant will also make ethanol from corn -- a first in Europe. Currently, the EU consumes more than 360 million gallons a year of ethanol. It's small potatoes compared to what we consume in the U.S., and about 0.2 per cent of what we use.
But the future is bright for ethanol in the EU. Its current consumption represents only 3 per
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