The Lamborghini emits exactly five times more CO2 per kilometre than the car named by ETA as the Green Car of the Year, the 99g/km Toyota iQ. Over a year of driving, the Toyota emits CO2 equivalent to that absorbed by three tennis courts of forest. The ETA examined over 5,000 models of car and compared their power, emissions, fuel efficiency and the amount of noise they produce to create a definitive guide to buying the greenest vehicle.

While the Murciélago collected the dubious honour of being the least green car according to the ETA's research, second place went to Ferrari's 612 Scaglietti while the next three spots were claimed by Bentley models', namely the Brooklands, Arnarge and Azure. Ferrari had two representatives in the top-ten with the 599 GTB Fiorano the other, it was placed sixth, while the rest of the top order was made up of the Aston Martin V12 Vantage, Cadillac Escalade, a fourth representative from Bentley, this time in the shape of the Continental, and finally Aston Martin's DBS. Splitting down further into categories the ETA also adjudged the Murciélago to have the highest CO2 emissions and be the biggest fuel guzzler.

Andrew Davis, director at the ETA, said: “With emissions five times worse than the greenest car, the Lamborghini is the bull in an environmental china shop. Thankfully, there are very few on the roads and there is an increasing choice of environmentally-sound cars. With the price of petrol at record levels and greater understanding about the threat to the environment there has never been a more important time to make fuel efficiency a deciding factor when choosing a car.”

Environmental Transport Association: Green Car Awards 2010 results