Sexy Green Car Show 2008 - Introduction

Congestion charging. Carbon dioxide emission-based taxation. Fridge-type efficiency labels. Car recycling. Worthy? Yes. Sexy? No.

That's the problem facing the car industry. It has to go green, because there's pressure from every angle to do so, but it must do so without falling into the trap of becoming interesting only to tree-huggers who are a bath or two short of a proper scrub.

That's where the Sexy Green Car Show at the Eden Project in Cornwall comes in. It helps that the motor show is housed in one of the coolest buildings in the world - the Eden Project's plant-filled biomes are surely some of the most recognisable constructions of modern times - but it's also clear that some car manufacturers are increasingly switched on to ensuring their cars can be green and sexy.

To find out about how the show came into being and the best of the initiatives on display, read on.