Grant to develop thermoelectric-based energy recovery system for cars

Amerigon Incorporated has been awarded an US$8 million grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to lead the development of an energy recovery system that can improve passenger car fuel efficiency by five per cent by converting waste heat from gas exhaust into electric power using a thermoelectric generator.
April 16, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSSAmerigon Incorporated has been awarded an US$8 million grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to lead the development of an energy recovery system that can improve passenger car fuel efficiency by five per cent by converting waste heat from gas exhaust into electric power using a thermoelectric generator.

The grant is part of $175 million in DOE awards for 40 projects to accelerate advanced vehicle research and development. Amerigon will share the $8 million grant with its project partners including 278 Ford, 1731 BMW of North America, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)/California Institute of Technology, and Faurecia Emissions Controls Technologies.

The project, to be completed in four years, will also specify how the new energy recovery system can be successfully commercialised "on the scale needed to positively impact the reduction of greenhouse gasses," according to the DOE grant.

Amerigon claims to be the world's largest supplier of thermoelectric technologies in the global automotive market and a leader in the conversion of waste heat into electric power in automobiles. The company began working on DOE-funded thermoelectric projects in 2005 by leading a multi-phase project to develop and evaluate a system for waste heat recovery in BMW and Ford vehicles. This new DOE-funded project builds upon the success of that programme which is nearing completion.

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