Early arrival at the breeding site positively affects the breeding success of migratory birds. During migration, birds spend most of their time at stopovers. Therefore, determining which factors shape stopover duration is essential to our understanding of avian migration. Because the main purpose of stopover is to accumulate fat as fuel for the next flight bout, fuel reserves at arrival and the...

Fuel use varies widely among insects; however, the potential determinants of variation in fuel use have not been explored experimentally. This study examines whether fuel use during tethered flight depends upon feeding status in the nectarivorous hawkmoth Amphion floridensis. Fuel use in this study is characterized by the respiratory quotient, measured at intervals during a flight using modifie...

To meet increasingly stringent emission regulations modern internal combustion engines require highly accurate control of the air-to-fuel ratio. The performance of the conventional air-to-fuel ratio feedback loop is limited by the combustion delay between fuel injection and engine exhaust, and by the transport delay for the exhaust gas to propagate to the air-to-fuel ratio sensor location. The ...

Fuel cells are an emerging energy conversion device which offer improved efficiency, low noise and reduced emissions. Imperial College have been asked to evaluate fuel cell system options for autonomous vehicles, and to consider the impact of military relevant fuels on fuel cell performance. Discussions with Rolls-Royce and Dstl have recently agreed two classes of application; fuel cells for au...

Hybrid excavator control strategy based on rules optimizes the specific fuel consumption only to determine engine operating point in the perspective of qualitative analysis, it is not sufficient to reduce the excavator fuel consumption because of ignoring the affect of engine power output. In this paper, an instantaneous minimum fuel consumption control strategy for hybrid power-train is propos...

Using household travel diary data collected in Germany between 1997 and 2012, we employ an instrumental variable (IV) approach to estimate fuel price and effi ciency elasticities. The aim is to gauge the relative impacts of fuel economy standards and fuel taxes on distance traveled. We fi nd that the magnitudes of the elasticity estimates are statistically indistinguishable: higher fuel prices ...

The fuel consumption is an important component of the vehicle operating cost which is a significant component of the total transportation cost. Fuel consumption data are extensively used by transport planners, transport managers and other professional for various evaluation processes in overall gambit of sustainable transportation system. Accuracy of fuel consumption data is one of the key fact...

Fuel cells have been recognized as a feasible alternative to current IC engines. A significant technical problem yet to be resolved is the on bound fuel supply before fuel cells can be practically used for vehicles. Use of an on-board fuel reformer can mitigate the fuel supply issue. In particular, using a diesel engine as on-board fuel reformer, combined with a fuel cell, is a strong candidate...

Energy and environmental issues are among the major concerns facing the global community today. Transportation fuel represents a large proportion of energy consumption, not only in the US, but also worldwide. As fossil fuel is being depleted, new substitutes are needed to provide energy. Ethanol, which has been produced mainly from the fermentation of corn starch in the US, has been regarded as...