Wouldn't it be nice if there was a way to harness the heat energy that cars give off and use it to power the vehicle, instead?

Well, Professor Mike Rowe and his fellow researchers at the Cardiff School of Engineering are looking into such possibility, and they even have a fancy term for the principle behind it: thermoelectric generation.

Basically, Rowe and company are interested in converting the wasted heat that normally exits a car's exhaust pipes into electrical energy.

Since the thermoelectric generation process is already being used in everyday applications like central heating systems and refrigerator temperature control, Rowe figures it can be used for vehicles as well.

A car that runs on such energy would a very fuel efficient and eco-friendly vehicle, indeed. Rowe put it this way:

The main interest in cars is to decrease the petrol consumption and reduce CO2 emissions. If you can utilise the exhaust heat you could replace the alternator. This would provide a 5 per cent saving in fuel straightaway.

Thermoelectric generation is a green solution. It can in many instances cost less than solar energy. It has huge future potential yet it has been neglected to date in the UK.