New jet planes have winglets, curved structures at the tips of the wings that change the airflow and reduce the turbulence in the passing wind. That reduces drag, the amount of effort needed to speed ahead, and that in turn reduces fuel requirements. Can it work on the ground?
Not only can it, but it may have to. Soon, possibly this week, the federal Environmental Protection Agency will issue fuel economy standards for trucks mimicking those that have been in place for cars since the 1970s. Trucks have never been covered; these would be the first rules of their kind. And if the standards are as aggressive as some experts predict, the rules will lead to some high-technology innovations.
But Andrew Smith, the founder and chief executive of a start-up company called ATDynamics, already has a product on the market. It was designed with some serious attention to the dynamics of the passing wind, never a simple subject, but on close examination, the word that comes to mind is not so much “high-tech” as “clever.”
Read the entire article at the: NY Times Green Blog
Earthgarage – Greener Car. Fatter Wallet.