One of the most stunning locations in the UK is providing the backdrop this week to what is being hailed as the world’s first eco-car exhibition. The Eden Project in Cornwall is playing host to ‘The Sexy Green Car Show’, designed to show off the best and latest advances in electric, bio-fuel, diesel and hybrid technology. Home to the two biggest greenhouses in the world – the Rainforest Biome and Mediterranean Biome, around 1.2 million visitors come to Eden per year and have generated £700 million for the local economy.

For too many years at car shows, manufacturers have unveiled prototypes of future vehicles for years ahead, usually clad in chassis that wouldn’t look out of place in an episode of Futurama. I recall being incredibly excited when I was a small boy visiting one show and seeing that we would all be using electricity-powered hover cars by the year 2000 – absolutely no doubt about it. The problem with these exhibits is that people tend to smile and nod, then walk quickly by, knowing that the relevance of the product on display to how they live their lives would be minimal in the least.

‘The Sexy Green Car Show’ (SXCS) appears to be about to change this. Vauxhall, Ford, Volkswagen, Smart and many others are going to be there, all with cars and products that are right here, right now. And with the gorgeous setting, other motor show organisers are going to be green with envy.

Saab aim to use the show as an opportunity to demonstrate that its whole model line-up can now be ordered with a choice of the innovative BioPower flex-fuel engines, some of which will be on show at Eden. Saab is the only volume car company in the UK able to make this claim. They will also be presenting the first public showing of the Saab 9-3 Convertible BioPower in the UK, and a Saab 9-5 Estate BioPower car.

All Saab BioPower cars are flex-fuel, meaning that they can run on the eco-friendly yet potent fuel source bioethanol E85, standard unleaded petrol, or any mix of the fuels. All Saab BioPower cars report a reduction in their fossil CO2 emissions of between 50 and 70 per cent compared to equivalent petrol cars, yet enjoy significant increases in their performance. Saab BioPower models produce an increase of up to 20 per cent in brake horsepower, due to the fact that Saab’s expertise in turbocharging allows them to take advantage of bioethanol’s higher octane rating.

Citröen, winners of the Green Manufacturer of the Year Award 2006 by Green Fleet will have a selection of their C1, C2 and C3s on display, whilst Vauxhall will be displaying their 1.3 CDTi turbo diesel engine, used in the new Corsa and Tigra. Awarded Engine of the Year in 2005 and recognised as the best in its class by the Environmental Transport Association, Vauxhall will be hoping that their development of the Zafira HdrogGen 3 fuel cell will win them future awards.

Proving that being green in your motoring doesn’t necessarily mean slow, petrol heads (or should that be bio heads?) can check out the D1 Lola Le Mans sports car and the Axon Eco-M edition Caterham 7 – 131 mpg, making it the highest fuel economy for the least cost.

If you are in Cornwall this next week, it will be well worth a trip to the Eden Project to take in the show and the marvellous Biomes. But if you’re not, do not worry about the wisdom of driving a long way to see what is, in essence, an environmentally themed car show. Even if your journey ends up educating and introducing you to a new car you may never have even considered, then perhaps we all start to win.

As the Eden Project say on their website – ‘We don't have all the answers, we don't want to tell others what to think; what we do is invite people to explore their world afresh’