The Queen is to set to ‘go green’ by having her two gas-guzzling state Bentleys converted to run on biofuels. This is part of a move by the British luxury car-maker to become more environmentally friendly – and a new biofuel-burning high-performance car is expected in the New Year.

The Volkswagen-owned, Crewe-based company is to produce a new range of engines which will offer a 40 per cent improvement in fuel economy by 2012, with all new vehicles able to run on the plant-derived fuel. But the ‘flex-fuel’ system, as it’s called, will also allow the vehicles to run on conventional petrol.

Bentley executives said the Royal Family had been extremely supportive of moves to go green and it would be relatively simple to replace the engines of the two state limousines that they presented to the Queen and continue to maintain.