In experiments, the innovative generator produced enough energy to power a lightbulb.

Gas-powered car engines waste a lot of energy—about 75% of the fuel they burn turns into heat instead of powering the vehicle. Scientists have been looking for ways to capture this lost energy, but practical solutions have been hard to develop.

Now, a research team has built a device that can convert exhaust heat into electricity. The device is a thermoelectric generator (TEG) that attaches to a car’s tailpipe and works by using the temperature difference between hot exhaust gases and cooler air to generate power.

In their experiments, the researchers' prototype produced up to 40 watts of electricity—enough to power a lightbulb. In real-world conditions, it could generate even more. At car speeds, it reached 56 watts, and for helicopters, up to 146 watts, according to findings published last month in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

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Most TEGs need water cooling to maintain the temperature difference, making them bulky and complex. Instead, this new design uses a heatsink—a metal cylinder with fins that wraps around the tailpipe—to let air carry away excess heat, keeping the system simple and effective.

These results suggest that thermoelectric generators could become a practical way to improve vehicle efficiency and reduce wasted energy in the future.

The research was conducted by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University (USA).

It’s unclear yet how this breakthrough will be used in real life.

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