Bentley earns green credentials with Geneva show car

The revised Continental will have to make more than 600 hp from its 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 and is likely to have a top speed of more than 200 mph–the figures achieved by the current fastest Bentley, the Continental Speed.

“Delivering supercar performance, this new model is very much the extreme Bentley,” says the company.

Bentley released a teaser photo of the nose of the new model. The photo shows a Continental with larger lower air intakes and outlets in the hood, which are essential to keep the engine bay cool.

A key ingredient in the new model is biofuel compatibility, allowing the beefy W12 engine to run on a gasoline/ethanol mix.

Because the ethanol raises the octane of the fuel, it can raise peak power output in a turbocharged engine by allowing the ignition to be advanced significantly without causing premature detonation, so this will give Bentley’s W12 a significant power boost.

But Bentley is also claiming green credentials for its new uber-sedan. Biofuel replaces emissions of carbon dioxide sourced from oil-based fossil fuels with those from renewable

sources. Ethanol is synthesized from green crops, which scrub carbon from the atmosphere as the grow.

“Importantly, this Continental model will run on biofuel, delivering stage one of Bentley’s environmental commitment and pioneering the use of this fuel in the luxury sector,” the automaker says.

At last year’s Geneva show, Bentley signaled its intention to make all its engines biofuel capable and cut average tailpipe emissions by 15 percent by 2012.

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