Photo Credit: static bob via Compfight cc
As part of an ongoing efficiency and conservation effort, President Obama announced this week that his administration will set higher fuel-efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks by March 2016, a move that could reduce dependence on foreign oil, cut fuel costs, and lower consumer prices.
Vecarius’s thermoelectric generator system improves the energy efficiency of vehicles ranging from light-duty vehicles produced by vehicle manufacturers to heavy-duty vehicles used by vehicle owners and operators of vehicle fleets. Photo Credit: RyanP77 via Compfight cc
Our global oil system is operating at near capacity—97 percent—which just isn’t sustainable. Because 70% of oil consumption in the U.S. is used for ground transportation, reducing the amount of gas used by vehicles is key to heading off an impending crisis. Boston-based Vecarius, which recently won the 2013 Sustainable America/Greentown Labs Fellowship, is working to tackle this problem by turning vehicles’ exhaust waste heat into energy, technology that can reduce fuel usage in vehicles by 5 to 10 percent. We talked to CEO Steven Casey to learn more about his innovative product.
Image via Cummins.com
Cummins Inc. and Peterbuilt Motors recently announced the impressive results of the test of their “SuperTruck,” a tractor-trailer designed to cut fuel usage by half through aerodynamics and a higher-efficiency engine. Under real-world driving conditions, the SuperTruck’s fuel economy was found to be 54 percent higher than a regular long-haul truck, averaging nearly 10 miles per gallon (mpg).