The trucking industry is always looking for more efficient ways to move freight and cut costs as much as possible. And with diesel prices continuing to remain steep, fuel costs are a huge concern for many transportation professionals.

To address this issue, we’ve talked about semi-trucks with hybrid engines and using pond scum for fuel, but in the ever-evolving world of technology, a new potential solution is always around the corner: At Oregon State University (OSU), an engineer has come up with yet another way to reduce fuel consumption and costs — using your truck’s own exhaust.

OSU Research Associate Hailei Wang recently announced he has identified a way to recycle fuel exhaust into an alternative fuel source. According to Wang, our current engines use only 30 percent of the energy they create. By converting the wasted exhaust into useable energy, Wang says he can help millions of drivers save fuel and money, while further limiting the emissions each engine would release into the environment.

Wang says the process would require no additional burning of fuel, and vehicles would use the captured energy to power things such as their air conditioner, lights, radiators and even batteries.

While Wang and his colleagues are still developing the technology, he says the possibility of using exhaust as energy is a reality, and the process would even work in our homes. Additionally, once the technology is ready, semi-trucks will be the first vehicles to implement the new approach, followed by cars.

What do you think about using exhaust as energy?

Do you have any concerns over the safety of the process?

Would you be interested to use the new technology?