Arnold Schwarzenegger turns green

Arnold Schwarzenegger had his 1965 Chevy installed with an environmentally friendly 800 horsepower engine that runs on biodiesel fuel, on MTV's 'Pimp My Ride'.

The episode - which aired in the US yesterday (22.04.07) to coincide with Earth Day - shows mechanics converting the 1965 Chevrolet Impala, by installing a new engine which cuts the car's emissions of greenhouse gases by 50 per cent.

Schwarzenegger said: "We take this cool show and they did something, and added something that was environmentally hip."

Although biodiesel is considered cleaner than gasoline, most scientists and environmentalists still favour more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Patricia Monahan, deputy director of the clean vehicles programme with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said: "At the end of the day, if we're going to switch from guzzling gasoline to guzzling alcohol, we're not going to solve our climate problems."

Schwarzenegger was criticised when he ran for California governor in 2003 for popularising Hummer vehicles - which guzzle copious amounts of regular fuel.

The 'Terminator' actor has since reduced his Hummer fleet to four, two of which he says have since been converted to run on alternative fuels. One runs on hydrogen and the other on biofuel.