Green Options

Electricity is the ultimate portable fuel, so running a car on electricity opens a world of possibilities in terms of harvesting and using sustainable energy while on the go.  Thermoelectric innovator Amerigon Incorporated has one especially interesting approach: capture the waste energy from the car’s engine exhaust and recycle it into electric power.  Through its BSST subsidiary and with $1.1 million in backing from the U.S Department of Energy, Amerigon is entering the fifth phase of the project.  Completion is targeted for March 31, 2010, and then look out, world.

German car giant BMW has announced plans to attach radioactive heat-collectors to the tailpipes of future models, in a move predicted to slash fuel use and reduce carbon emissions by around 5 per cent.

The massive fuel saving is bigger than the three per cent achieved by the two current key Efficient Dynamics technologies - stop-start and brake energy regeneration.

The revolutionary technology, originally designed to power space satellites, captures waste heat transferred down the tailpipe and converts it to electricity via a radioactive ‘thermolelectric generator.’