Emerald Technology Partners Interview Broadcast on NBC Colorado News 9

http://emeraldtechnologypartners.com/ Brian Arnold and Michael Quinn in interview broadcast on NBC 9 News Colorado titled "Kinetic Energy Used to Cut Fuel Costs and Reduce Emissions. Broadcast December 29th 2011. http://www.emeraldtechnologypartners.com

TAMPA, Fla. - Kinetic energy is the energy something has due to its motion. A former Tampa, Fla. police officer has invented a way to harness that energy and put it to use in refrigerated-tractor trailers.

"I was working on something else when my wife said 'Why don't we put that on semi-trucks,' and I thought 'My goodness, that will work perfect,'" Bryan Arnold said.

Arnold invented a way to use the kinetic energy from semi-trucks to keep their cargo cold.

"As the truck's in motion, it actually rotates the tires which turns our device which powers up to the actual refrigeration unit," Arnold said.

It's that simple. The tires on the trailer turn the gears he invented, and that's the only power needed to run an ordinary generator encased under the trailer. This is very different from current trailers kept cold by diesel-run refrigeration units.

"It's costly [and] fuel is going up," Michael Quill, Arnold's business partner, said.

Quill and several other Tampa Police officers joined Arnold to get this device made.

"We can run a refrigerated unit with out any fossil fuels...without any emissions being put into the air," Quill said.

They estimate 63 billion pounds of carbon dioxide is saved from the atmosphere by not using diesel to run refrigeration units. They've partnered with engineers at the University of Central Florida to make a full-scale model.

"They agreed that they would like to look into, run tests, set the standards for the DOT testing of it, and then actually build it," Quill said.

We tested their current prototype by powering a light using just the kinetic energy of the wheel. Since all refrigeration units only run every 10 minutes or so, when it's not on, the energy is stored in a battery that can be used to run the refrigeration unit when the truck is still.

Arnold says the device will regulate battery power for up to 24 hours to keep refrigeration units running when the trucks are stopped.

(Copyright © 2011 NBC Universal, All Rights Reserved)

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• alternative fuels
• brian arnold
• carbon emissions
• clean vehicles
• colorado news 9
• emissions law
• fossil fuels
• fuel prices
• greenhouse gases
• heavy truck technology
• refrigeration
• renewable energy
• trucking industry technology
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