4. THE TIMES
SELF-CONFESSED TREE-HUGGING PETROLHEAD DALE VINCE WANTS TO HELP
RESHAPE BOTH OUR ROADS AND OUR ENERGY MARKETS
Dale Vince is a wind entrepreneur and after living in an off-grid bus, being one of Britain’s richest men
makes life pretty sweet.
Dale created a wind energy empire which left him rolling in cash, and now he has big plans to
transform the country. He developed an electric car which broke the UK’s electric land speed record,
creating a nationwide electric car charging network which runs off renewables. Since then he has
become a big British industrialist, investing in wave energy technology and developing new models for
direct public investment in renewables. To top it all off, he is a committed vegan. When he became a
shareholder of Forest Green Rovers F.C. in 2010, months later becoming the club chairman, he
banned the players from eating red meat making the sale of all red meat in the football grounds
banned. This left vegetarian options instead and also free-range poultry and fish taken from
sustainable stocks, therefore creating the world’s first organic football pitch. Going back to his eco-
friendly developments, Vince also introduced various developments at the football club, including the
installation of solar panels on the home ground and the use of a solar powered robot which mows the
grass on the pitch. For all his services to the environments, Vince received an OBE from the Queen in
2004.