Sir Richard Branson has revealed why he is such a staunch supporter of new environmentally-friendly fuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel. He also talks candidly to Saab about the steps he is personally taking to reduce his carbon footprint, and his vision of creating the first carbon-neutral resort in the Caribbean, on his home of Necker Island.

“I believe we need to make a virtue out of investing in clean technology and renewable energy and not be ashamed to want to make profits out of it,” Sir Richard told the Saab website. “For too long, environmentally-friendly technology and issues about the environment have been seen as a corporate social responsibility issue and not an opportunity to create new wealth in the future. Governments alone cannot solve the problems we face unless the capitalist world invests in a sustainable future,” he said.

Last November, Sir Richard pledged to reinvest all the profits from his transport companies over the next ten years into renewable energy, including bioethanol. Shortly after, he became the first owner of a Saab 9-5 2.3t BioPower in the UK, at which point he remarked: “I am convinced that biofuels are the way forward, both for the car and aviation industries, which is a vision we share with Saab. Now we need to extend that vision to others. At the moment, bioethanol is made from a variety of agricultural sources, whilst in the future, we will see it made from cellulosic waste matter, such as wood chippings, which really will make it the ultimate green fuel.”

www.saabbiopower.co.uk