Search / 92 posts tagged thermoelectric

The Department of Energy is funding research at GM and BMW, along with several partner universities, into a little-known technology called the thermoelectric generator. Internal combustion engines use a grand total of maybe 25-30% of the energy contained in gasoline for actual propulsion.

GM researcher Jihui Yang indicates that GM has a thermoelectric device that surrounds an exhaust pipe which can increase fuel economy in a Chevrolet Suburban by about 5 percent, a 1-mile-per-gallon improvement that would be even greater in a smaller vehicle.

Several weeks ago, the International Herald Tribune reported that Brazil will lend some hydroelectric power to its neighboring country of Uruguay during July and August of this year, the coldest months of South America’s winter. Uruguay, like many South American countries, is currently struggling to meet its energy needs.

TransMaterial has a post on Thallium-Doped Lead Telluride - the most efficient thermoelectric material yet found. The post talks about capturing waste heat from car engines, but presumably it could be applied to cogeneration schemes as well. Thermoelectric materials convert waste heat to electricity without pollution.

CleanTechnica reports that scientists have invented a new material capable of generating electricity from heat. The material they invented is tellurium-doped lead telluride, and it is twice as efficient as the second most efficient material used in thermoelectric power.

There are several forms of naturally existing energy that can be converted into electricity. Wind, running river water, ocean currents, and light from the sun are all examples of natural energy. We can convert this natural energy into electricity with simple generators.

A new, highly efficient material that converts heat into electricity may one day help cars get the most out of a gallon of gas, U.S. researchers said on Thursday. Only about 25 percent of the energy produced by a typical gasoline engine is used to move the vehicle or run accessories like the radio or windshield wipers, they said.

Another hope in 'green' springs out from the laboratory of Ohio State University and Caltech. A new thermoelectric material which could help to make fuel engines more efficient. And the researchers behind the innovation say that with some more development, their material could have a 10% percent effect on a car's fuel efficiency.

Researchers at Ohio State University have invented a new material designed to make cars more efficient by converting heat wasted through engine exhausts into electricity. Scientists rate the efficiency of thermoelectric (TE) materials based on how much heat they can convert into electricity at a given temperature.

Researchers at Ohio State University have invented a new material that can generate electricity from heat in hot machine environments at an unprecedented rate. The new material is called thallium-doped lead telluride. The development could have a dir ...