TECHNONEWS * UK - From eco-villain to hero

Carbon is usually typecast as a villain in terms of the environment but technology devised a novel way to miniaturise, that will make carbon a key material in some extremely green heating products for air conditioning equipment for our cars and HGVs

Warwick,Warwickshire,England,UK -Warwick University -November 11, 2009: ... Across the EU, vehicle air conditioning uses about 5% of the vehicle fuel consumed annually, and within the UK it is responsible for over 2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions... Researchers at the University of Warwick have been working on practical solutions for many years and are now developing new energy saving technologies. They have made a breakthrough in adsorption systems design that dramatically shrinks these devices making them small and light enough for use in automotive air conditioning... Researches devised and filed a patent on a clever new arrangement that distributes thin (typically 0.7mm thick) sheets of metal throughout the active carbon in the heat exchanger. Each of these sheets contains more than a hundred tiny water channels (typically 0.3mm in diameter) designed to make the heat transfer much more efficient. This has enabled the Warwick team to create adsorption based equipment that is up to 20 times smaller than was previously possible... In car air conditioning systems their new system can exploit waste heat from the engine, converting it into useful cooling. Because no (or very little) mechanical power is then taken from the engine it will reduce both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by nearly 5%...


* 'Road trains' get ready to roll

London,UK -BBC News -9 November 2009: -- Road trains that link vehicles together using wireless sensors could soon be on European roads... An EU-financed research project is looking at inexpensive ways of getting vehicles to travel in a 'platoon' on Europe's motorways... Each road train could include up to eight separate vehicles - cars, buses and trucks will be mixed in each one... The EU hopes to cut fuel consumption, journey times and congestion by linking vehicles together... Early work on the idea suggests that fuel consumption could be cut by 20% among those cars and trucks travelling behind the lead vehicle... The lead vehicle would be handled by a professional driver who would monitor the status of the road train. Those in following vehicles could take their hands off the wheel, read a book or watch TV, while they travel along the motorway. Their vehicle would be controlled by the lead vehicle... Funded under the European Commission's Framework 7 research plan, Sartre (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) is aimed at commuters in cars who travel long distances to work every day but will also look at ways to involve commercial vehicles... Towards the end of the research project trials will be held on test tracks in the UK, Spain and Sweden. There are also plans for public road trials in Spain. The first platoon will involve two trucks and three cars...