Ricardo has announced that it is participating in the Integral Project, which aims to apply thermoelectric generator technology to passenger cars and heavy-duty vehicles. These enable waste heat to be recovered and used productively to improve fuel economy and reduce CO2 emissions.
The Integral Project gathers high-level experts within three value chains where thermoelectric generators are expected to fulfil significant market needs.
Thermoelectric materials are able to directly convert heat into electricity, however most currently used thermoelectric materials are based on rare or toxic elements, which means they cannot be implemented on a large scale. More sustainable materials have been extensively investigated over the years, but mostly at laboratory scale.
Furthermore, tests so far have failed to achieve sufficient performance levels to justify heavy industrial investments toward full-scale production and market introduction.
March 6, 2017
