Green Daily

Here's a fun fact: An internal combustion engine uses just a quarter of its energy to move a car forward. Another 30-percent is used to cool the engine and another 40-percent is sent out the tailpipe.

Oh the tailpipe, the bane of urban existence, really. But not forever! GM, Ohio State University and BMW want to teach the tailpipe a new trick in the hopes of making it a useful member of society--or just of a car.

The idea is to clamp a metal-plated box around the tailpipe that will capture some of that heat and convert it to electricity using thermoelectrics. That heat would then be sent back to the engine to power the water pump or the radio and DVD player.

Not all of the exhaust's energy can be captured.

Currently, GM officials say the device increases fuel efficiency by five-percent in the Chevy Suburban. That's about a mile more a gallon, and their experts say the increase would be more substantial in smaller vehicles.

The Department of Energy is challenging automakers to improve fuel efficiency by 10-percent using tailpipe exhaust.

[via AOL Money & Finance]