THE Saab BioPower, a flex-fuel car which runs on petrol or bio-ethanol is now available to order in the UK.

Using bio-ethanol, emissions from the 2.0-litre turbo engine can be slashed by up to 70%, despite a 20% gain in power. Prices for the BioPower start at £21,651 for the saloon and £22,851 for the estate with manual transmission from launch in January. Automatic variants will follow.

Bioethanol is produced from a wide variety of sources, including forest residue, sugar cane and sugar beet, making it a totally renewable resource.