Scientists at Ohio State University in Columbus and Caltech in Pasadena, California, have worked out a new thermoelectric compound designed to help gas engines recapture some of the energy lost during the heat-to-electricity conversion.

The energy efficiency rate of a typical gasoline-powered vehicle currently stands at 25 percent. Much of the force produced by an internal combustion engine goes to waste, usually in a form of tailpipe exhaust. However, Joseph Heremans, the project's leading researcher, insists that the new material is twice as potent as similar competing devices and can boost mileage by at least 10 percent. According to PC Magazine, Jeff Snyder of Caltech, who previously developed such devices for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, added that though the idea of using thermoelectrics had been around for a long time, the economics did not make sense when oil cost only $20 a barrel.

"Now that energy costs have gone up by a factor of five, these alternative ideas that have been around for awhile are a lot more viable," he said in an interview.