The notion of “Going Green” is rarely associated with the Land Rover brand of vehicles, despite the iconic, shining-green emblem which adorns their exteriors. This may all change.
The notion of “Going Green” is rarely associated with the Land Rover brand of vehicles, despite the iconic, shining-green emblem which adorns their exteriors. This may all change.
Land Rover is joining forces with Atmos Heating Systems to develop a Freelander prototype that will use energy from the vehicle to power a home’s heating and hot water stores. Engineers have dubbed the creation the Thermal Energy Storage and Saving Automobile, or TESSA for short. The TESSA traps exhaust energy in a heat store that is located between the catalytic converter and the silencer box. When the driver parks the car, the energy captured in the vehicle’s heat store is transferred using an onboard transfer block and hose pipes.
Atmos Heating Systems has determined that a typical vehicle loses 32 percent of the energy it draws from fuel through the exhaust. 32 percent amounts to approximately 52 mega joules of energy – over half of which is recouped using the TESSA system. So what kind of real-world applicability can be drawn from a little exhaust heat? Atmos Heating believes the TESSA system – if used regularly – could provide enough energy to sustain a household’s hot water requirements.
Unfortunately, the TESSA system will not increase the Land Rover’s fuel efficiency or reduce its CO2 emissions. It could, however, help families reduce overall energy consumption and lower the cost of skyrocketing energy bills.
The TESSA system is still in the testing and prototype stages. It will be featured at this year’s European Bioenergy Exhibition & Conference.
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