Today more than ever, volatile fuel prices, environmental impacts from fossil fuels, and increased global demand for energy drive the need for energy efficiency. Developing new ways to create, transfer and control power can have numerous positive societal impacts, from improved energy efficiency that saves businesses and consumers money to reduced emissions that help sustain our environment. Timken’s products and services are fundamental to improving efficiency and reliability in rotating machinery.
Fuel-Efficient Bearings for Vehicles
Timken’s fuel-efficient bearings for cars, trucks and other vehicles reduce power consumption by 30 percent and improve fuel economy by as much as 2 percent over traditional bearings. If all cars and light trucks in the U.S. used our energy-saving bearings, each year 14 million fewer barrels of petroleum would be consumed and 230,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions would be eliminated.
Fuel Efficiency in Rail Transport
When we set the standard for rail transit in the 1930s with the Timken AP™ tapered roller bearing, our predecessors could not have imagined the advancements we are driving today. Our low-torque designs and innovative lubrication technology deliver fuel-efficiency in freight, locomotive, passenger, tram and high-speed operations around the world. One example is our Ecoturn Seals.
Efficiency in Aluminum Production
Did you know Timken helps to make aluminum cans more sustainable? When Alcoa, one of our major customers, rolls aluminum strip for the modern beverage cans, they use Timken tapered roller and cylindrical roller bearings in their high-speed mills. These bearings are often more than 1 meter in diameter, but despite their size, have rotational accuracy of less than 8 microns (0.008mm). The result? Alcoa’s high-speed mills operate with greater precision and consistency, leading to aluminum that is 40% thinner than it was 20 years ago and with reduced scrap. These process improvements mean that one pound of aluminum now makes 34.2 cans, up from 26.9 cans in 1975.