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Everything is delivered by trucks today, like it or not these behemoths’ are a necessary evil

If you ever have pulled into a trucker rest stop at any time of the day you will hear them running there air conditioners and heaters for this needed comfort and for their required sleep, to keep them alert for their safety as well as ours who share the streets with them.
Morpheus: The human body generates more bio-electricity than a 120-volt battery and over 25,000 BTUs of body heat.
It seems the really big problem is cooling during the summer months. To solve this problem I believe there are several solutions that can be used. One of these solutions lies within the materials in which the sleeper berth is made up of. To keep a cooling level needed for sleep a thermo mass that will allow a steady absorption of human heat is needed, and to generate this cooling mass, a series of power generation is needed. For one, while the truck is running power is being produced thru the power generation in the truck itself. And if that is not enough power why not add a solar panel onto the back top of the trucks trailer, with battery storage on the truck or in the front part of the trailer. Another possible source of power generation could be incorporated on the sides or top of the trailer with a series of small windmill types of devices. Really what are we looking at in the ways of cooling in so much as the electric cooler is run and keeps food cool how much power is need for one or two people.
Like the hand warmers that you crack the little disk inside a packet of chemicals and it start a thermo/chemical reaction, can the same thing be used to heat the berth? All these things and probably a few more added ideas found along the way would save countless gallons of fuel, save countless carbon emissions, and save money for the truck companies/owner operators and in the long run save money for us the consumer.
© Paul Taravella 2012. All rights reserved

This is a real problem for real people that are needed for our society to exist

  • Mar 14 2012: Why not indeed !
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    Mar 13 2012: What you're saying is reduce the amount of power wasted by truckers resting idly in their trucks by using independent power sources for air conditioning and heating?

    The solar panel idea may work, but those heating packs produced in great quantities may end up causing as much energy-waste as leaving the heat on over night! Anywho... Why couldn't solar panels help to generate heat? A mini solar-fire system might be enough to heat a truck.

    I wonder if we could apply this kind of thinking to all the 'accessories' of a trick - refrigeration units for food transport, radios, etc...