Mercedes -- like a lot of other folks -- believes oil is going to run out eventually. But instead of waiting until the "Low on Oil" light comes on, the brand behind the three-pointed-star has set a goal to convert its entire fleet to run on alternative fuels by 2015. That's seven years to get off the drink we've all been addicted to for well over a century.

Prince Charles is not new to the environmental debate. His blue, 38-year-old Aston Martin, however, has had nothing to do with being environmentally friendly. Until now. The car, a gift from the Queen on Charles' 21st birthday, has joined the growing fleet of cars that run on bioethanol, having been converted to run on surplus British wine.

The wine comes from an English vineyard in Wiltshire, and the EU limits how much wine a vineyard can produce, so the vineyard sells the overage to Green Fuels, which turns it into biofuels and supplies it to the Palace.

Petroleum prices are making electric vehicles and engines which run on biofuels look more and more attractive with each passing day. That's why its likely to be a hot topic this election season as each presidential candidate sets out his own unique proposals to ease the country into a new era of lower fuel consumption. Biofuels may be the quickest path to lower petroleum usage, but it's electric vehicles which present the biggest step forward in clean auto technology looking forward.

A scientist in the U.S. Department of Energy's science and energy research unit has said "Energy independence is a realistic goal for the United State of America," by 2030. There are, of course, a few caveats to that. First is that by the word "independence," he doesn't mean not using any oil entirely -- he means getting oil consumption down to a point where our usage is "not subject to restraining or directly influenced by others as consequence of the need for oil."

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Bentley Brooklands

In Dallas, a businessman has spent half a million dollars to install nine pumps that dispense E85, E10, and biodiesel. The catch: the businessman is a HUMMER dealer, and the pumps are next to his dealership. The station is called Classic Clean Fuels, and it is intended to make a statement for next year's H2 and H2 SUT, which will be the first production models to be Flex-fuel capable.