Licensing opportunity
John Kessels, a PhD student at the Technical University Eindhoven, has devised a way to cut fuel consumption by enabling car engines to achieve optimum performance more frequently. The relatively small modification this requires reduces fuel consumption by 2.6 per cent.
To meet the Kyoto objectives, European car manufacturers have agreed to reduce the CO2 emissions by a cumulative 140 grams per kilometre by 2008. Many have not yet attained this objective.
Kessels discovered that excess power generated by the engine can be used to charge the car battery, and conversely that the generator, which charges the car battery, can be turned off when it is inefficient for the engine to power it, leads to reduced fuel consumption. He also developed a system, similar to that used by hybrid petrol/electric cars, for transferring the energy generated from electric braking to the battery. Finally, Kessel proposed partly shutting off electric systems, such as rear window and seat heating, to further improvement energy efficiency.
The 2.6 per cent fuel savings can be achieved by installing a software patch in the car’s computer and adding a single small cable. It is not necessary to replace any parts.
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