Alternative Fuels

No this is not an entry about how we need to turn away from gas and oil and that everyone needs to start driving hybrids and biodiesels (although its not a bad idea). There have been numerous stories from Australia to Europe of countries over producing grapes, creating a glut of the produce and leaving no idea of what to do with it. Well the EU has come up with a solution. Turn that wine into fuel. The EU will take about 510 million litres of surplus wine from Italy and France and turn into bioethanol that can only be used as biofuel or industrial alcohol. A unique solution that kills two birds with one stone. It helps however minutely to decrease the dependence on traditional gas and it helps do something with the surplus of grapes that would otherwise be dumped into the market place or simply tossed away. The EU will pay these wineries somewhere in the neighborhood of 130m Euros. Last year when they started this program EU paid around 150m Euros. Its definetely and interesting solution to the larger problem of why the wineries are continually ovreproducing grapes.