Eaton’s commitment to energy efficiency and conservation extends to innovative products and services that help our customers utilize electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power more efficiently, and improve environmental performance. These include hybrid electric and hydraulic powertrains that boost fuel economy and reduce particulate emissions in trucks, buses and service vehicles; electrical power control systems for the efficient use of power; high-pressure hydraulic aircraft systems that reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency; automotive superchargers for enhanced fuel efficiency; and many others.
Improving Fuel Efficiency in Transportation
Eaton has emerged as the industry leader in hybrid power system technologies for commercial vehicles. These systems increase fuel efficiency up to 60 percent and significantly reduce emissions. In the U.S., we're developing hybrid trucks for Coca-Cola®, FedEx®, Pepsi Bottling®, UPS®, Wal-Mart® and others. Eaton is the only hybrid system supplier in the world that is developing both hybrid electric and hybrid hydraulic systems.
Eaton employs a parallel-type diesel-electric hybrid architecture with Eaton’s Fuller® UltraShift® automated transmission. It incorporates an electric motor/generator between the output of an automated clutch and input of the transmission. The system recovers energy normally lost during braking and stores the energy in batteries. When electric torque is blended with engine torque, the stored energy is used to improve fuel economy and vehicle performance for a given speed or used to operate the vehicle with electric power only. The system can also be designed to provide energy for use during engine-off worksite operations, further reducing noise, emissions and fuel costs.
The world’s largest and most advanced commercial aircraft, the Airbus A380, uses Eaton’s higher pressure hydraulic and fluid conveyance systems. Eaton developed and designed these systems to help reduce the platforms’ overall weight by one metric ton and, along with the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 and the General Electric/Pratt & Whitney GP7200 engines, are helping the A380 fly more efficiently and reduce overall CO2 emissions.
Eaton has partnered with Volkswagen to produce the only production-ready combination supercharger and turbocharger system for passenger cars. The system improves fuel efficiency by 20 percent while increasing power by 15 percent. Superchargers can help automakers meet fuel economy and emissions requirements in gasoline engines.
Reducing Energy Consumption in Buildings
Buildings today are the heaviest consumers of natural resources and account for a significant portion of the greenhouse gas emissions that affect climate change, contributing to 39% of the overall energy consumption in the United States. Taking this into consideration is particularly important when it comes to construction of new buildings or major renovations of older ones. To this end, Eaton offers a broad range of energy efficient and environmentally-friendly electrical solutions that can help a building go green and qualify for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credits through the U.S. Green Buildings Council (USGBC®). Eaton’s Electrical Group also offers many other sustainable products and services.
Powering Alternative Energy
Wind energy is one of the fastest growing renewable energy resources in the world. It is free, sustainable, and inexhaustible. Leading wind turbine manufacturers use Eaton hydraulic and fluid conveyance components and systems to control functions such as pitch angle of turbine blades, hydraulic braking systems, and mechanical lubrication systems. Eaton hydraulic components offer demonstrated reliability and performance to meet the needs of these systems that often operate in extreme conditions. Eaton products include control valves, cylinders, power units, filters, and fluid conveyance hoses and connectors.
