Run Your car stereo off your exhaust

One of the funniest things to me has always been the concept of some kid driving a rice-burner down the street with his mobile boom-box shaking the windows on every adjacent store front. Half the gas he uses to cruise goes to power the big-ass amp in his car.
In fact, despite huge tech gains in electronic systems efficiencies, car batteries and the alternators to keep them charged have increased in capacity. Some estimates show 20% of fuel burnt in the modern car is used to generate electricity. That's a little suspect to me but it's more than is used to keep you cool.

Now there's new technology that can use exhaust heat to take the load off your engine:

New material could help stretch a gallon of gas

Converting heat to electricity is an old principle, it's how the pilot themocouple in your gas water heater shuts off gas flow if pilot blows out.

What's described in the article is a method to actually make enough electricity to do some real work.

Side Note: The price of oil now reflecting its real value is causing market forces to make it feasible to do stuff like this. We dont need no dip-crap congressional intervention to git 'er done!

Tell that to your elected idiot! And tell him to vote to drill!