Attaching two flags to the windows of a medium-sized car causes it to burn an extra litre of fuel per hour, according to Antonio Filippone of the University of Manchester's School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering.

Mr. Filippone carried out the research for a paper called "What is the fuel wastage from the flag on your vehicle?"

"The extra drag generated by these flags can reduce a car's fuel economy by up to three per cent during a one-hour journey," he found.

He estimated that flags flown on their cars by half a million England soccer-team fans during last year's month-long World Cup tournament burned up at least 1.2 million litres of extra gas and released an additional 2.8 million kilograms of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Labels: efficiency, rant