Researchers: Car exhaust may be used for power

[AJ]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/08/10/tailpipe.power.ap/index.html

"It's probably the biggest impact in the shortest time that I can think of,"

It seems all options are on the table to see who is going to fix our gas dependence.

[dmention7]

well, DUURRRR..... lessee here, you've got a motor spewing out hot gasses, of COURSE that can be used to generate power. That's what a turbocharger does, that's what BMW's steam turbine tech does, there are a million and a half ways to use a temperature difference to generate power. Just like it's a big no-brainer to recapture the mechanical energy of a car through regenerative braking.

The problem is that nobody is willing to pay for this kind of tech to be integrated into their vehicles, so we still end up with 99.9% of the population puttering around in conventional gasoline vehicles and the few who do opt to support technological advances like this are labeled as eco-nuts for buying a hybrid.

I guess I'm just getting a little bored of seeing all these "miracle devices" getting thrown around in the news without any regard to the actual impact they will have. Especially when the tech is old news, and the only newsworthy aspect is that gas prices remain high.

[mndsm]

Yeah, i'm kinda with Jay. I read the headline and went "Um, Hm. My car already makes a shit ton of power because it has this thingamabob on it that uses the exaust to spin a turbine to shove in more air...."

[ZoomZoom Diva]

Cost is an important factor. If it costs more than the money I'm likely to save in gasoline costs over the my ownership of the vehicle or the life of this system, then the system is not feasible at this time. I can pay $500 and have an intake that saves me 5% on fuel just by lessening how pig rich the car runs. It seems like better ECU tuning is a simpler and cheaper way to acheve better fuel mileage on at least some cars and if this can be done at a low cost, so much the better.