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Forensic Accountant: Reliability & admissibility as Expert Witness

Forensic Accounting

Forensic accounting is a rapidly growing area of accounting concerned with the detection and prevention of financial fraud and white-collar criminal activities. George A. Manning in his book “Financial Investigation and Forensic Accounting” defines Forensic Accounting as the science of gathering and presenting financial information in a form that will be accepted by a court of jurisprudence against perpetrators of economic crimes. The integration of accounting, auditing, and investigative skills yields the specialty known as Forensic Accounting which focuses very closely on detecting or preventing accounting fraud. “Forensic”, according to the Webster’s Dictionary means, “Belonging to, used in or suitable to courts of judicature or to public discussion and debate.” The word accounting is defined as “a system of recording and summarizing business and financial transactions and analyzing, verifying, and recording the results.” The term ‘forensic accounting’ refers to financial fraud investigation which includes the analysis of accounting records to prove or disprove financial fraud and serving as an expert witness in Court to prove or disprove the same. Thus, basically, the forensic accounting is the use of accounting for legal purposes.

The History of Forensic Accounting

The forensic accounting can be traced back as far as 1817 to Meyer v. Sefton, a Canadian case that allowed an ‘expert witness’ to testify in court. The term ‘forensic accounting’ was first published in an article in 1946 “Forensic Accounting- Its Place in Today’s Economy” authored by Maurice E. Peloubet, a partner in Price Waterhouse. He stated that, “during the war both the public and industrial accountant have been and now engaged in the practice of forensic accounting”. Many scholars have traced the roots of investigative accounting to his work. Interest in forensic accounting spread through the United States and England early in the twentieth century. One of the first institutions to use the services of such investigative accountants was the IRS. The story of Al Capone the famous mobster being caught on a tax evasion scheme is well-known. The FBI decided to use forensic accountants and employed nearly 500 such agents during World War II. As a profession, forensic accounting continued to grow during the latter half of the century, as GAAP and tax laws became widespread and mandatory.

The need for Forensic Accounting

Forensic Accounting is a fast emerging field in the “World of Accounting”. Although it has been around for a long time, it has become increasingly popular and much relevant today in view of global financial crisis due to the downfall of the Lehman Brothers and its ripples felt across the globe. Thus, a new avatar of Accountant has emerged known as Forensic Accountant. Although Investigative Accounting has been around for years, it has only recently begun to transform into a new branch of accounting, hence Forensic Accounting. Forensic accountants unlike traditional accountants, look beyond the numbers, put their nose and eye deep into the financial books, records and data to uncover fraud, hidden assets, siphoned funds and the like. The word forensic is defined as the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems and legal proceedings. The word accounting is defined as “a system of recording and summarizing business and financial transactions and analyzing, verifying, and recording the results.” By combining these two definitions it can be concluded that forensic accounting utilizes his regular accounting principles & practices in legal situations. Forensic Accounting is like the bridge which connects accounting system to legal system. Thus, we can say that the forensic accounting is an accounting that is used in a court of law. One of the most notable legal situations in the recent past would be the Enron scandals; where large numbers of American forensic accountants were employed. The wave of financial crisis primarily caused by corporate malfeasance and fraudulent financial activities eroded public trust and investor confidence in financial reports and audit services and need was felt to look beyond the conventional accounting function which only fulfilled the compliance requirements i.e. company’s books of accounts are kept in accordance with rules & regulations. In view of the increasing number of financial frauds committed by conspiracy with complex accounting records manipulation, it was felt that a new tribe of Accountant is needed to detect the financial fraud in companies with his accounting, auditing, and investigative skills and also assist in legal matters. This area of accounting came to be known as ‘forensic accounting’. There is a global awareness to fight the cases of financial frauds. Though many strategies have been formulated and many actions have been taking to fight against it, the problem still persists. One of the major hindrances in fighting financial crime cases is lack of quality forensic analysis of the financial statements and records due to lack of forensic accounting professionals. This author who had been an investigating officer during his tenure with Delhi Police in number of major cases of financial crimes have faced this dearth of quality forensic accounting experts who could have come handy in timely & accurate investigation of the intricate financial crimes and unearth the complex modus operandi adopted by the fraudsters who are themselves in some cases highly qualified financial professionals. The reason why there has been rampant increase in white collar financial crimes because they think that they can get away with it with impunity and the greatest deterrent to thwart the criminal act is law enforcement. However, the conviction rate in the financial fraud cases was very low due to weak law enforcement which is attributable to weak litigation support in prosecution process. Without full support of accounting expert, prosecutors often fail to prove and provide strong evidence to put fraudsters behind bar. Here, the Forensic accounting can play an important role here by providing accounting or financial information or other evidentiary inputs for legal purposes. To achieve the aim, forensic accountant besides having financial accounting expertise, should also have proven skill in law, scientific investigative technique, interpersonal and communication skills etc.

Growth of Forensic Accounting

The Western Countries are utilizing the forensic accounting expertise to address the financial fraud cases. United States and Canada are pioneers in development & implementation of Forensic Accounting. The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountant recently recognized Investigative and Forensic Accounting as an accounting specialty. The CICA has started granting its members to use the designation initials CAIFA who complete three years post qualification experience as a CA with Diploma in Investigative and Forensic Accounting (DIFA) from the University of Toronto. The CA-designated specialist in investigative and forensic accounting (CAIFA) combines the well-recognized and respected attributes of the CA – in particular integrity, understanding of business, and financial acumen – with an in-depth knowledge and experience in investigative and forensic accounting. The CA-designated specialist in investigative and forensic accounting (CAIFA) combines the well-recognized and respected attributes of the CA – in particular integrity, understanding of business, and financial acumen – with an in-depth knowledge and experience in investigative and forensic accounting. This is accomplished through a profession-endorsed certification process that has ongoing experience and education requirements. The CAIFA tells litigation lawyers, law enforcement professionals, the courts and other legal forums that the designated holder is well positioned to practise in areas such as fraud and economic loss quantification, including:

· investigating and analyzing financial evidence;

· testifying as an expert witness ;

· becoming involved in criminal investigations and uncovering financial evidence in employee or insurance fraud cases;

· Investigating in the rapidly evolving area of computer and Internet fraud.

Forensic Accounting implementation in India

However in India, this branch of accounting has not got its due recognition even after alarming increase in the complex financial crimes and lack of adequately trained professionals to investigate and report on the complex financial crimes. The task of Forensic Accountants is handled by Chartered Accountants who apart from handling traditional practice of auditing as required under the Companies Act, 1956 or Income Tax Act are called upon by the law enforcement agencies or the companies or private individuals to assist in investigating the financial crime or scam. The CA or CWAs in India are best suited for this profession due to their financial acumen acquired during their rigorous training which can be further honed by introducing post qualification degree or diploma in Investigating and Forensic Accounting similar to one introduced by CICA. The CA or CWA who acquire post qualification in Investigative & Forensic Accounting can use the designation CA-IFA or CWA-IFA and be legally recognized as the Forensic Accounting Experts to handle the investigation of financial crimes and give expert testimony in the Court of Law. However, no efforts has so far been made by the ICAI and ICWAI, the two leading statutory accounting professional bodies to move in this direction and set up a institute which can offer the post qualification diploma in Investigative and Forensic Accounting to its members.

However, growing financial fraud cases, recent stock marker scams, failure of non financial banking companies, phenomena of vanishing companies and plantation companies and failure of the regulatory mechanism to curb it has forced the Government of India to form Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under Ministry of Corporate Affairs which can be regarded the first step of Government of India to recognize the importance and advance the profession of forensic accountants. The SFIO is a multidisciplinary organization having experts from financial sector, capital market, accountancy, forensic audit, taxation, law, information technology, company law, customs and investigation. These experts have been taken from various organizations like banks, Securities & Exchange Board of India, Comptroller and Auditor General and concerned organizations and departments of the Government. However, the main important law enforcement agency involved directly in combating white-collar crimes is the Police, CBI, DRI etc. There is a total lack on the part of these law enforcement agencies to train their investigators in this specialized part of investigating white-collar crimes involving forensic accounting. The investigation of the major financial crimes is handled by ordinary investigating officers who after spending some time in investigation of conventional crimes are shunted to the economic offence wing and they are expected to handle the financial crime cases involving complex & intricate financial records which is required to be analyzed to unearth crime or unique MO adopted by the white collar criminal. The result is obvious, the case dies its natural death and the criminals roam free as the IO given his lack of specialized knowledge & qualification fails to properly investigate the financial crime to its logical conclusion. On the other hand if we look at the western countries particularly USA, the law enforcement agencies of which like DEA, FBI, CIA has well marshaled its pool of special agents having forensic accounting backgrounds that are the backbone of the bureau’s financial crimes and terrorism financing units and investigate with professional acumen, the complex financial crime like money laundering, internet crimes, financial institution fraud and other economic crimes. Today, there are more than 600 FBI agents with accounting backgrounds. Thus, it is highly imperative on the part of law enforcement agencies in India that they follow the suit and engage specialist forensic accountant on its roll whose engagements relating to criminal matters typically arise in the aftermath of financial fraud.

The Indian Law which refers to Forensic Accounting:

1) The Companies Act, 1956:

a) Section 235 and 237: There are provisions in Companies Act (Section 235 and 237) which empowers the Central Government to inspect the books of accounts of a company, to direct special audit, to order investigation into the affairs of a company and to launch prosecution for violation of the Companies Act, 1956. Books of accounts and other documents of the companies are inspected by the officers of the Directorate of Inspection and Investigation and the Registrars of Companies. These inspections are designed to find out whether the companies conduct their affairs in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 to see whether any unfair practices prejudicial to the public interest are being resorted to by any company or a group of companies and to examine whether there is any mismanagement which may adversely affect any interest of the shareholders, creditors, employees and others. Wherever inspection reports disclose any information that may be of interest to other Departments or agencies like the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Enforcement Directorate, State Government or Provident Fund Authorities, such information is passed on to them. If an inspection discloses a prima facie case of fraud or cheating, action is initiated under provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 or the same is referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

b) Provisions of Sick Industrial Companies Act incorporated into the Companies Act, 1956: The Section 424A(5) of the Companies Act, 1956 empowers National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to examine as preliminary issue whether the company is a sick industrial company u\s 2(46AA). Thus even before examining the viability of the scheme of revival proposed by the company, NCLT can check the genuineness of the reference made to it. Thus, inquiry by operating agency will only be to enable NCLT to decide the viability of the scheme and to assess whether the company has the ability to revive on its own. Further, Section 424B of the Companies Act, 1956 empowers the tribunal to make such inquiry as it may deem fit for determining whether any industrial company has become a sick industrial company. Further, the Tribunal may, if it deems necessary or expedient so to do for the expeditious disposal of an inquiry, require by order any operating agency to enquire into the scheme for revival and make a report with respect to such matter as may be specified in the order. Operating agency is group of experts consisting of persons having special knowledge in banking & industry in which sick industrial company is engaged and includes public financial institution, State level institution, scheduled bank or any other any other person as may be specified by general or special order as its agency by the Board. Thus, Forensic Accountant can be part of operating agency and investigate whether the reference made by the company is genuine or the accounts are manipulated or fabricated to suit the scheme of reference made to NCLT to declare it as sick company and thereby siphon public funds.

2) SEBI Act, 1992:

The share market is highly volatile and the brokers indulge into various unfair and fraudulent trade practices like synchronized share trading, manipulate and fabricate the books of accounts and cheat the gullible investors. Regulation 11 C of the SEBI Act, 1992 empowers the SEBI to direct any person to investigate the affairs of intermediaries or brokers associated with the securities market whose transactions in securities are being dealt with in a manner detrimental to the investors or the securities market. Thus fraudulent and unfair trade practices of the brokers or market intermediaries are investigated by the investigator appointed by SEBI which require the broker or market intermediary to furnish information, books of accounts, registers, documents or records etc. which is analyzed by the investigator to find out any manipulation, fraudulent practice or otherwise of the broker. Thus, Forensic Accountant can play a lead role in assisting the SEBI to unearth the complex share related frauds perpetrated by the brokers.

3) The Insurance Act, 1938:

Section 33 of the said Act empowers the IRDA to direct any person (“Investigating Authority”) to investigate the affairs of any insurer. The investigating authority may seek assistance of the auditor (or actuary or both) who shall be the Chartered Accountant within the meaning of Chartered Accountant Act, 1949 for the purpose of assisting him in any investigation. The books of account, registers and other documents are taken by the investigating authority in its custody to analyze it to find out the manipulations or fabrication in the books of accounts. Thus, Chartered Accountants plays a front role as an Forensic Accountant and aid in the investigation conducted into the affairs of the insurer as per the provisions of Insurance Act, 1938.

4)  The Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002:

Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 defines the offence of money laundering as involvement of a person in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime and projecting it as untainted property. The three important stages in the money laundering process are:

· Placement: Physical disposal of cash acquired from illegal sources by depositing the cash in domestic banks or other kinds of financial institutions.

· Layering: Working through complex layers of financial transactions to distance the illicit proceeds from their source and disguise the audit trail.

· Integration: Making the wealth derived from crime appears legitimate.

Forensic Accountant can often be involved in the following antimony laundering activities:

· Investigating and analyzing financial evidence to establish a suspicious transaction;

· Developing computerized applications to assist in the analysis and presentation of financial evidence;

· Communicating their findings in the form of reports, exhibits and collections of documents that assist the banks in submission of the suspicious transaction reports to the regulator; and

· Assisting in legal proceedings, including testifying in court as an expert witness and preparing visual aids to support trial evidence.

5)  The Companies (Auditor’s Report) Order, 2003:

CARO, 2003 requires the auditor to report to the effect that if a substantial part of fixed assets have been disposed off during the year, whether it has affected the going concern status. In order to carry out the duties, the auditor has to draw a corollary and reference to the section 293 Companies Act, 1956, AS 24 (‘Discontinuing Operations’) and to AAS 16 (Going Concern) and thereafter make his observations on this matter. It also requires the auditor to report on Frauds i.e.; if any fraud on or by the company has been noticed or reported during the year.

Expert forensic accounting evidence

Who is an expert witness?

An expert witness is a witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially (and legally) rely upon the witness’s specialized (scientific, technical or other) opinion about an evidence or fact issue within the scope of their expertise, referred to as the expert opinion, as an assistance to the fact-finder. Expert evidence is evidence given to a court or tribunal by a person, skilled and experienced in some professional or technical sphere, of the conclusions he has reached on the basis of his knowledge, from facts reported to him or discovered by him by tests, measurements or similar means. It is commonly given by, for example, doctors, chemists, surveyors, architects, accountants and the like. In a Scottish case, Davie v Edinburgh Magistrates (1953) , it was said that the function of an expert witness “…is to furnish the judge with the necessary scientific criteria for testing the accuracy of his conclusions, so as to enable the judge to form his own independent judgment by the application of those criteria to the facts proved in evidence” .

An expert witness is different from ordinary witness

Expert witnesses have a different status from ordinary witnesses when giving evidence at a Court or other judicial or quasi-judicial tribunals. The evidence of the “expert” differs from that of the ordinary witness who testifies as to facts observed, in that the expert is permitted to express his/her opinion on a matter that has occurred in the past, or may occur in the future which have not been actually observed by the expert, who is providing evidence. The relevance and weight which the Court or tribunal will attribute to such an opinion within the total evidence which is adduced is a matter for the Court or tribunal.

An expert, unlike other witnesses, is allowed, because of his special qualifications and/or experience, to give opinion evidence. It is for his opinion evidence that he is called, not for his view of the facts or circumstances of the dispute, although his interpretation of the facts is often necessary in order to explain and/or justify his conclusions.

Forensic Accountant as an Expert Witness:

The tradition and law relating to the status of the experts as witnesses dates back to English Courts around 1550. However, the first recorded use of an accountant as an expert witness was in Meyer V. Sefton, 2 Stark. 274 (1817). The use of Forensic Accountant testifying as an expert witness in the Court of law is becoming increasingly prevalent today in view of the rapid increase in the financial fraud cases. In court cases where the knowledge of an expert can help to better explain the facts in issue or relevant facts, an “expert witness” may be called upon to give expert testimony.

Section 45 of the Evidence Act which makes opinion of experts admissible, lays down that when the Court has to form an opinion upon a point of foreign law, or of science, or art, or as to identity of handwriting or finger impressions, the opinions upon that point of persons specially skilled in such foreign law, science or art, or in questions as to identity of handwriting, or finger impressions are relevant facts. However, neither the Indian Evidence Act nor there is any seminal judicial pronouncements which clarifies as to when, how and under what circumstances, the testimony of Forensic Accounting Expert would be admissible or inadmissible.

In order, to bring the evidence of a witness as that of an expert it has to be shown that he has made a special study of the subject or acquired a special experience therein or in other words that he is skilled and has adequate knowledge of the subject. The Cost Accountant or Chartered Accountant can be considered as an expert to give testimony within the meaning of Section 45 of the Evidence Act. Moreover, the draft of “The Companies Bill, 2008″ includes the definition u/s 2 (1) (zn) which interalia includes Cost Accountant and Chartered Accountant in the definition of “Expert” which can be also considered/extended for relying upon their testimony in the Criminal/civil cases by the court.

In USA, however, the admissibility of the Forensic Accounting Expert testimony is supported by the Judicial Pronouncements and Federal Rule of Evidence. Over the years, the US Supreme Court has delivered several decisions clarifying its standards for the admission of expert testimony:

In Frye v. U.S., the Court stated that expert testimony will be admitted if based on a methodology “generally accepted” by the scientific community.

In Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993) the Court concluded that the trial judge must act as a gatekeeper for expert testimony, considering several nonexclusive factors applicable

to the testimony’s reliability and relevance, including:

· Whether the theory or technique has been or can be tested,

· Whether the theory or technique has been subjected to peer review or publication,

· The known or potential rate of error, and

· Whether the theory or technique is generally accepted in the relevant scientific community.

Although Daubert focused on the admissibility of scientific expert testimony, its progeny have had a great impact on Financial Expert testimony. In Kumho Tire Co. V. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137 (1999), the Court made clear that the gatekeeper function applies to all expert testimony, not just scientifically-based testimony.

Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence effectively codifies the Supreme Court’s decisions in “Daubert” and “Kumho”. Rule 702 provides that if the Court finds that scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge “will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue,” and if the Court finds that the witness is qualified as an expert “by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education,” then the Court may permit the witness to testify — so long as the witness’ testimony is based on “sufficient facts or data,” the testimony “is the product of reliable principles and methods,” and the witness has “applied the principles and methodology reliably to the facts of the case.

Further, concerning determinations of nonscientific expert testimony reliability, financial expert testimony (which includes Forensic Accountant Testimony) in particular, the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Evidence and the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure (“Committee”) which proposed amendments to the texts of Rules 701, 702, and 703, specifically observed:

“Some types of expert testimony will not rely on anything like a scientific method, and so will have to be evaluated by reference to other standard principles attendant to the particular area of expertise. . . . The expert’s testimony must be grounded in an accepted body of learning or experience in the expert’s field, and the expert must explain how the conclusion is so grounded. “Whether the testimony concerns economic principles, accounting standards, property valuation or other non-scientific subjects, it should be evaluated by reference to the ‘knowledge and experience’ of that particular field.”

Therefore, under the Federal Rules of Evidence, a judge will permit an accountant to testify as an expert witness only if the judge decides that:

The accountant’s testimony will help the jurors or judge understand the evidence or determine a fact in issue.

The accountant is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education.

The accountant can show that his or her testimony (a) will be based on sufficient facts or data and (b) will be the product of reliable principles and methods that have been applied reliably to the facts of the case. (These requirements are often referred to in shorthand as “qualification, reliability, and fit.”)

Thus, under the rule announced in Daubert v. Merrill-Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993) and expanded in Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137 (1999), the courts must ensure that experts-scientific and otherwise-will offer testimony that is methodologically sound and relevant to the facts of the case before admitting their expert testimony.

Qualifying as an Expert Witness

Challenges to financial expert testimony have skyrocketed in recent years. Since Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (1993), an increasing number of testifying experts have been subjected to challenges by opposing counsel in an attempt to prevent the experts from testifying (Journal of Forensic Accounting: 1524-5586/Vol.IV(2003), Page-113). Figlewicz and Sprohge in their article, “The CPA’s Expert Witness Role in Litigation Services: A Maze of Legal and Accounting Standards,” offer ten guidelines to help avoid legal challenges:

1. Know the relevant professional standards.

2. Apply the relevant professional standards.

3. Know the relevant professional literature.

4. Know the relevant professional organizations.

5. Use generally accepted analytical methods.

6. Use multiple analytical methods.

7. Synthesize the conclusions of the multiple analytical methods.

8. Disclose all significant analytical assumptions and variables.

9. Subject the analysis to peer review.

10. Test the analysis-and the conclusions-for reasonableness.

Now the various investigation agencies such as Police, CBI etc. are taking the help of CA/CWA as a Forensic Accountant and using their report as evidence in the cases of criminal/civil nature. Whether the aforesaid principles/guidelines laid down by the two US Supreme Court Judgments incorporated into Federal Rules of Evidence would be followed by Indian Courts or not will become clear in the due course of time.

However, the fact is that though till today there is general acceptance of admissibility of scientific evidence and expert’s opinion in Indian Courts, there is no special law with respect to this which lays down criteria, principles or guidelines in clear terms with regard to when the expert opinion would be admissible and when it will not as is the case under the US federal law. Section 45 of the Indian Evidence Act is insufficient in this regard. However, in case of doubt, the principles laid down by US Supreme Court can be adhered to. In conclusion, one should understand that it is ultimately for the Court Of Law to decide as to who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training or education, who may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise if:

1. The testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data,

2. The test is the product of reliable principles and methods, and

3. The witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case

However, no doubt, with the rapid increase in the cases involving misappropriation of funds, manipulation of books of accounts, banking fraud cases, Securities scams etc. involving complex financial transactions, the Forensic Accountants and admissibility of their testimony needs to be elucidated and these would be determining factors for deciding the fate of these cases. The involvement of Forensic Accountant in financial fraud cases and his testimony will not only take these cases to logical conclusion but also will go a long way ahead to put a curb on these menace of white collar offences.

Neeraj Aarora

(Advocate)

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Pop Up Stand No Waiting

Pop up stands are used to display branding, or an advertising message, or corporate message of a business. A pop up display is useful for all sizes of enterprises to use at exhibitions, coaching events, reception areas and sales meetings.

All businesses could benefit from a pop up stand, because they are highly cartable. Pop up stands are lightweight and often sold with a carry case, so exhibitors, trainers, or anybody working alone can simply transport the pop up stand, to numerous events.

They also are very easy to set up by one person, as pop up stands can simply be put up within 10 mins. There are not any other kinds of display promoting that is this straightforward to line up, or carry.

The pop up display is also very tough, as the pop up stand is a banner that coils and uncoils from its base. This banner never creases due to this banner coiling system, implying that it easy to keep well maintained.

This resilience means that you can invest in a pop up stand once, with your graphical depiction of the advertising message, then use it for many years to come, at the aforementioned exhibitions and such like.

It is also straightforward to interchange the graphics employed in your pop up display. Pop up stands come in standard sizes, so a new graphical display can be produced for the same pop up stand. This indicates that you can update existing panels, or create fresh ones to fit your wants. Also, you can consider having interchangeable panels, if you want to mix’n'match for each use of the pop up display.

The cost of the pop up display is also a favorable factor, as they’re very long lasting and may be employed for many various promoting events. They are a lot less expensive than other kinds of exhibition hardware and truly are a useful way of portraying your selling message, without costing the earth.

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What is Duty of Care and Why is Managing Road Risk so Important for Business Fleets?

The facts

• Every week in the UK over 20 people are killed and 250 seriously injured in “at-work” road traffic

accidents (RoSPA). According to the government, “for the majority of people, the most dangerous

thing they do while at work is drive on the public highway” (HSE)

Legal responsibilities

• Under The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, employers are instructed of their “duty to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees”

Employer duty of care is reinforced by the corporate manslaughter offence under which companies can be prosecuted for deaths to drivers and other road users caused as a result of a work related journeys where negligence is proven

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

• Road accidents result in awful human losses for families, friends and colleagues of drivers,

passengers and other road users and have a negative impact on the wider community

• Accidents, congestion and poor driving exacerbate the environmental impact of running fleets

Financial benefits

Better driving should lead to:

• Fewer accidents, with reduced repair costs and/or insurance premiums

• Lower fuel consumption

• Reduced maintenance costs, especially tyres and brakes

• Improved vehicle condition and performance at sale and/or reduced damage recharges

• Less vehicle rental expenditure

Typically fleets can expect a 15-20% reduction in fleet costs in the first year following the implementation of a risk management program.

Business advantages

Fewer accidents mean:

• Fewer lost business opportunities, deliveries, loads, customer complaints, etc.

• Less usage of temporary contract staff or overtime to cover staff absences

• Reduced risk of prosecution

• Less time spent on non-revenue generating activity e.g. accident related admin, investigation, etc

• Improved staff morale

• All of which also carry, albeit possibly less tangible, financial benefits

• Improved environmental and CSR record

• Potentially positive (and perhaps more importantly

avoidance of negative) PR

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Hinder The Rise Of Indoor Led Lighting Market Threshold Of 3

Largest LED Illumination And the mobile phone market is LCDTV LED backlighting, followed by the LED lamp, and then followed by the building facades, interior decorative lighting and roads. LED lighting market is the second major development trend of solar power were dimming.

The future, the LED lights or indoor LED lighting market, there is no dimming function can not sell the products. Of course, this will as Zigbee and other proprietary wireless technology to bring additional remote control market.

Solar-powered LED illumination products for the following three markets: parking lot lighting, interior lighting, and Lawn . Avnet company director CaryEskow Light Speed, said: “If we can produce cheap solar-powered LED lighting products, then we open up at least in Africa, a big market.”

, Of course, the most simple solar-powered LED lighting products need only four components: solar cell array, rechargeable battery, Schottky diodes and high brightness LED. Diode to prevent current flowing back at the battery back to solar cell arrays. But such a system difficult to achieve high efficiency, because the solar cell current and voltage output characteristic is nonlinear. To improve the efficiency, we must use to as MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracker) technology. Due to limited space, this article will not go into details, interested readers may refer to Articles website another article forthcoming special report: “Improving the efficiency of solar-powered LED lighting method.”

However, the growth potential and room for the largest indoor LED lighting market is also developing very slowly, although the reasons for this situation there are many, but CaryEskow said: “The three most important impediments or challenges are difficult thermal design high cost and supply of market immaturity. “

He said interior LED lighting system design encounter the biggest challenge is how to cheap, energy-saving and effective method to send the heat LED chips scattered out.

And outdoor LED Lighting The difference is, Indoor LED Lighting Lighting Air does not flow in a closed environment, even if you use the LED chip cooling aluminum plate of tropical out of this heat also can not be dissipated. Unless you use the fan to dissipate the heat, but this is the worst solution and more losses than gains, because the power needed to drive the fan motor may have more than you want to save by switching to LED and power. Heat pipe solutions have the same problem, but also increase the cost of many.

CaryEskow said: “Today’s really quiet, effective and energy to achieve top-style LED spotlight embedded solutions for the cooling effect is only Nuventix revolutionary active cooling solution, it does not need fans, but of the same diaphragm as the speaker air movement caused heat. It is currently on the market to solve the challenges the next generation of indoor LED lighting heat the best solution. “

Today, LED stage lighting from the industrial and consumer embedded applications, top-style high-brightness LED lighting, high power LED products has created demand for LED cooling can not simply use a LED heat sink to solve their heat problem. Passive cooling method can not meet the needs of LED general lighting design, such as using only a single radiator, then the high brightness LED will become too hot. However, the large lumen in the high-power LED lighting applications can be patented by Nuventix’s SynJet heat quickly.

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Japan is home to a large number of car producing companies

Japan is home to a large number of car producing companies. Besides cars they also produce motorcycles, engines, etc. The Japanese automotive industry is one of the most outstanding industries all over the world. Major manufacturers of cars in Japan like Toyota, Nissan, Isuzu, Subaru, Honda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, and Mazda are among the largest manufacturers of cars in the world.

 

Toyota Motor Corporation, commonly known as Toyota, was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937. Toyota has recently overtaken General Motors of U.S. as leading producer as well as best seller of cars in the world. Over several decades, Toyota has gained rich experience in manufacturing high quality cars. Toyota cars reflect the simplicity and emphasize the fashionable design of classic styled Japanese culture. Toyota Land Cruiser and Toyota Prado are the well known SUV and had been attracting global attention.

 

Honda’s existence in the automotive industry was early since the 1960s. Honda has become the largest manufacturer behind Toyota, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year. Honda boasts a wide range of high quality cars, such as Integra, Jazz, Legend, CR-V, S2000, Civic and many more globally re-known models.

 

Mitsubishi’s automotive origin dates back as far as 1917. Unarguably, Mitsubishi is also one the best Japan car manufacturers due to the style and reliability of their products. The Mitsubishi Canter is a magnificent and unbeatable Japanese truck. Its styling and great power to pull heavy weights make it still popular worldwide choice since its launch in 1978.

 

It will make your life more convenient to own a car. But buying a Japanese car directly from a Japanese car auction will be the wisest move you can make. According to the recent reports, Japanese cars still dominate the automotive industry. Why Japanese cars are preferred by consumers? Apart from its dependability, performance and style, fuel efficiency and affordable price are also the attractions of Japanese cars. No wonder why Japanese car are so popular around the world!!

Source:

www.Auctionprojapan.com

Quick Step Laminate Flooring

Copyright (c) 2008 Steven Magill

Laminate flooring is one of the most popular forms of flooring in the world. It is popular because it gives people a way in which they can have floors that look like hard wood, tile or even stone at a fraction of the cost that they would have to pay for floors that were actually made out of hard wood, tile or stone. Laminate flooring was invented in Sweden in the late 1970s but it wasn’t very long before it had become popular all over the world. One of the world’s most popular brands of laminate flooring is Quick Step laminate flooring.

Quick Step laminate flooring is made by the Quick Step Flooring, Inc. Company, which is headquartered in St. Louis Missouri. It is the United States division of a company called Unilin Group, which is headquartered in Belgium and was founded in 1960. This company is known for its wood-based panels, its laminate flooring, its roofing systems and its laminate panels. The company has facilities in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and, obviously, the United States. This company was the first company to introduce a patented technology called Uniclic. Uniclic offers people a method of floor installation that is glueless.

The Quick Step laminate flooring line includes flooring that is made to look like beech, oak and chestnut wood planks, tile squares and both the imitation wood and tile are available in a variety of colors.

The Quick Step official website offers users an interactive menu to help them find the dealer that is nearest to them in location. All users have to do is enter their zip code and then choose how wide of a radius in which to search. Quick step will then return the addresses and information of all of the quick step dealers within that radius.

All of the flooring made by Quick Step is direct pressure laminate flooring. This type of flooring is often considered to be better than the high-pressured laminate flooring because it is better balanced. Each of the different types of floors also comes with an installation instruction manual that can be downloaded as a .PDF format.

Quick Step makes more than laminate flooring; it also makes wall treatments, molding, tile skirting, adaptors and a variety of square noses. They also offer a small variety of cleaning kits for your laminate flooring even though, like most kinds of this type of flooring, Quick Step laminate flooring is very easy to keep clean.

You can buy Quick Step laminate flooring through a dealer or through the website and you can also learn a great deal about the different types of laminate flooring that Quick Step has available. No matter what kind of floor you want to have, Quick Step will help you make it happen. Their products are affordable (certainly more affordable than “real” hard wood floors), durable, easy to install and easy to keep clean. With Quick Step laminate floors you can redo all of the floors in your home in no time at all

Find More Quick Step Laminate Flooring Articles

Seal Fireplace Dampers With Weatherstripping to Conserve Energy

Introduction

When fireplaces are not being used, they should be sealed with weatherstrip to air seal the damper and prevent wasted energy. The common perception should be that just like doors and windows, fireplaces require weatherstripping to prevent energy loss.

Leaking Fireplace Dampers Waste Energy

Fireplaces are the largest intentional opening in the home, costing U.S. families over ,100,000,000 (based on figures as of March 2005) each year in wasted energy costs.

Like a door or window, fireplaces are openings to the outdoors and should be weatherstripped to prevent the loss of heated and/or cooled air.  By weatherstripping the fireplace, several benefits are achieved including improved comfort, energy conservation, reduced energy costs, reduced noise, and improved indoor air quality.

Fireplace dampers are not effective at sealing the fireplace. When dampers are closed they do not provide an air tight seal and are quite ineffective at controlling undesired air leakage. Most fireplace dampers are left open. A study showed that 80% of fireplace dampers are inadvertently left in the open position1. Many fireplaces have broken and/or missing dampers.

In a 1990 study designed to measure the leakage area of fireplace with and without the damper closed, Energy Options Northwest had this impressive finding; the effective leakage area (ELA) of the fireplace dampers averaged about 30 square inches when closed. As a frame of reference, the total ELA of typical houses built to moderately tight standards is between 70 and 120 square inches. These results demonstrate that by weatherstripping the fireplace, the total effective leakage area (ELA) of the house can be reduced by 25 – 43%.

Another research study performed in Europe showed similar results. The study showed that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise overall heating and cooling energy consumption by 30%2.

The majority of energy loss in the home is due to air leakage. Air leakage, or infiltration, occurs when outside air enters a house uncontrollably through cracks and openings. Properly air sealing such cracks and openings in your home can significantly reduce heating and cooling costs, improve building durability, and create a healthier indoor environment.

Building scientists and other experts agree that a significant amount of energy costs are wasted due to air leakage. Warm air leaking into the home during the summer and out of the home during the winter waste a substantial amount of energy dollars. See the collection of web references at the end of this paper.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the typical U.S. family spends approximately ,300 a year on home utility bills, of which 44% goes for heating and cooling (as of March 2005). In fact, the average American household’s annual utility bill expected to rise to about 00 by 20153.

Inadequately sealed fireplaces are noted as being one of the worst air leakage sources in the home. According to the D.O.E.4, by weatherstripping the fireplace, the typical U.S. home can reduce air leaks by 14% or more.

According to 2004 US Census Data5, there are 76,217,000 family households in the U.S. By multiplying the number of family households by the typical savings possible by weatherstripping the fireplace, the total annual energy cost savings that can be achieved by weatherstripping fireplaces is ,100,000,000. This incredible amount can be expected to rise to ,400,000,000 annually by the year 2015.

Of course not every home in the U.S. has a fireplace. However this only serves to increase the energy cost burden for the homes that do have fireplaces.

According to estimates there are 33,000,000 fireplaces in the U.S. By dividing the total annual energy cost savings that can be achieved by weatherstripping fireplaces by the number of homes with fireplaces, the average annual savings that can be achieved by weatherstripping the fireplace would conservatively be about 0 – 0 per fireplace.

Not Just Heating Losses Occur – Consider Air Conditioning Losses

Energy loss through fireplaces is not just heat loss. Fireplaces can also cost wasted air conditioning.

Consider a typical home that is provided with central air conditioning, and a fireplace. Air leaks in and out of ducts at all the connections within a system (e.g. at plenums and behind registers)6.

Of course this leakage means that air that occupants have paid to have heated or cooled escapes from the heating or cooling system and does not heat or cool the house. Air leaks into the heating or cooling system increase the amount of outside air that must be heated or cooled. Outside air is usually cooler (for heating) or warmer and more humid (for cooling) than air inside the house and the heating or cooling capacity of the system is then used to heat or cool this outside air instead of the air in the house. These issues are well documented and well understood.

But these air leaks also force air through the fireplace. How? By the pressure differential created by the duct leakage. Depending on where the duct leak is, it can cause a slight reduction or increase in the pressure inside of the home. Because the fireplace is a wide open hole to the outdoors, this will cause your air conditioning to either push air out of the fireplace, or worse, suck air in through the fireplace bringing odors and toxins in with it. 

Other Benefits of Sealing the Fireplace

By weatherstripping the fireplace, several benefits are achieved, including improved comfort, energy conservation, reduced energy costs, reduced noise, and improved indoor air quality.

Un-weatherstripped fireplaces allow annoying and uncomfortable downdrafts. Back drafting brings cold air in winter that must be heated, and warm air in summer that must be cooled. Smoke particles and soot from a fireplace can enter into the living space, contributing to odors, poor indoor air quality, asthma, and other undesired problems.

When the fireplace is not weatherstripped, windows and doors can seem to have a cold breeze coming through them. This is caused by a condition known as the stack effect. Between the higher and lower pressure zones of the home lies a neutral pressure zone. The neutral pressure zone tends to move toward the largest air leak.  The chimney’s neutral pressure zone is above the neutral pressure zone of the house. This creates a flow of air out the chimney even when no fire is burning. As the large volume of air is drawn up the chimney, warm air from other areas of your house goes up the chimney, too. This robs heat from the other rooms and pulls cold air into the home through cracks around windows and doors that have not been completely sealed.  Sealing the fireplace helps stop the ‘breeze’ coming from your doors and windows.

Energy Codes Require All Openings Be Sealed

Energy Codes in force across North America require that all openings in the building envelope (doors, windows, attic access, etc) be caulked, gasketed, weatherstripped, or otherwise sealed to limit air infiltration and exfiltration. This is because air leakage through cracks can result in higher energy use for home heating and cooling than necessary.

The 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC™) – is the latest version of the Model Energy Codes. All 50 states (as well as our territories) have adopted an Energy Code either the same as or based on the IECC Model Energy Code. The Code specifies that all penetrations in the building envelope between conditioned and unconditioned space that are sources of air leakage must be sealed with durable caulking materials, closed with gasketing systems, weatherstripping or otherwise sealed to limit uncontrolled air movement.

According to the “Plan Check & Field Inspection Guide for 1992 MEC, 1993 MEC, and 1995 MEC”, as well as the “Plan Check & Field Inspection Guide for 1998 IECC and 2000 IECC”, inspectors are instructed to verify that all doors between conditioned and unconditioned spaces have door boots and weatherstripping.

When inspecting for the Residential Provisions of the IECC/MEC, Building Inspectors are taught that proper air sealing will not only decrease the energy use of the building, but it will also increase the comfort of the homeowner and the durability of the home. 

Building Inspectors are also taught that all penetrations in the building envelope between conditioned and unconditioned space must be sealed with durable caulking materials or closed with gasketing materials.

Like a door or window, fireplaces are openings to the outdoors and should be weatherstripped to prevent the loss of heated and/or cooled air.  By weatherstripping the fireplace several benefits are achieved, including improved comfort, energy conservation, reduced energy costs, reduced noise, and improved indoor air quality. 

Mechanical Codes Require Dampers to Be Permanently Blocked Open With Gas Log Sets

In an apparent violation of the Model Energy Codes, there currently exists a requirement in the 2003 International Residential Code (IRC) that the fireplace damper must be permanently blocked open when a vented gas log set is installed. This is intended to sufficiently prevent the spillage of combustion products into the room when the fireplace is used, and to prevent build up of gas should the pilot flame be inadvertently extinguished.

The unintended consequence of blocking the damper open is, of course, significant energy loss when the fireplace is not being used. This requirement is not in agreement with the Model Energy Codes that require all openings to be caulked, gasketed, weatherstripped, or otherwise sealed to limit air infiltration and exfiltration.

An alternative would be to simply instruct the homeowner to open the damper when using the fireplace. Instead of the IRC requirement that encourages energy loss, a reasonable solution would be to require a CO detector to notify the occupants of a build-up of combustion products into the room if the fireplace is used when the damper is accidentally left closed. At least one state (Massachusetts) currently requires homes to be provided with CO detectors7.

The Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC) requires all gas logs be equipped with a safety pilot control. The safety pilot maintains a pilot light and prevents gas flow to the main burner if the pilot is not lit.

Solutions Exist Today To Weatherstrip Fireplaces

There are several devices available today that are used to seal the fireplace. For example, top mounted chimney dampers. These are relatively expensive and have a poor return on investment (ROI). In addition they do not seal the fireplace at the bottom damper, leaving the chimney with all of its odors, toxins, and pollutants exposed to the home. In addition they do not address the wasted energy required to condition the chimney space. 

It is often assumed that glass doors are a solution for sealing leaking dampers. This is not true, as glass doors do not air seal the fireplace opening. They do have decorative benefits, however.

There are other products available at hardware stores, etc. to temporarily seal off the flue and stop air from escaping up the chimney. One type of weatherstripping product is an inflatable plug that you insert into the fireplace beneath the damper. This type of weatherstripping is made of heavy plastic with an attached tube for inflating the device. The tube hangs down into the fireplace to remind you that the stopper is there. It can be removed to use the fireplace, and reinstalled again after. These devices have a very high return on investment (ROI), and can pay for themselves in one mid-winter heating bill.

Conclusions

There are 33,000,000 fireplaces in the U.S. As of March 2005, the total energy cost savings that can be achieved by weatherstripping fireplaces in the U.S. is ,100,000,000, or conservatively about 0 – 0 per fireplace, annually. This incredible amount can be expected to rise to ,400,000,000 annually by the year 2015, or in excess of 0 per fireplace, annually.

There are devices available today to weatherstrip the fireplace that can provide a very high return on investment (ROI), and can pay for themselves in as little as one mid-winter heating bill.

Public awareness through education, training, and other methods are required to alert consumers of the amount of wasted energy from fireplaces, and to provide solutions.

The following action items are urged:

Educate the general public about the enormous cost of energy loss through fireplaces, and of the various ways to seal these openings between uses of the fireplace. Add the requirement to weatherstrip fireplace dampers to the Model Energy Codes.  Allow an alternative to the energy wasteful requirement in the Codes that require the fireplace damper to be blocked open when vented gas logs are installed. As an alternative, the Code should allow the option to not block the fireplace damper in the open position when homes are provided with CO detectors and a safety pilot control.  Conduct further study of energy loss through the fireplace in both heating and cooling climates.

References:

1 Study documented by Joe Pate, Enviro Energy International Inc.

2 Ventilation perturbations due to an open fireplace in a house – P. Dalicieux and C. Nicolas.

3 http://www.ded.mo.gov/researchandplanning/newsletter/electricity. htm

4 http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2004. html

5 http://ducts.lbl. gov

6 http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/st02/st02037. htm

7 http://www.energy.gov/news/1939. htm

About the author: Mark D. Tyrol is a Professional Engineer specializing in cause and origin of construction defects. He developed several residential energy conservation products including an attic stair cover, and is the U.S. Distributor of the Fireplace Plug. To learn more visit www.batticdoor. com

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Battery Lights

Battery Operated Lights.

Battery operated lights have come a long way. Many people believe batteries are a fairly new invention. Did you know the first battery was invented in 1800? Or that the first flashlight was made in 1898? Now, those batteries were not the kind you and I think of today. They were actually quite unstable and not very reliable. Lets take a look at how battery lights came to be.

History of Lights.

Light has been used by man for a long time. Light gives our plants energy, which in turn feeds us. We also get vitamin D from light. Before modern scientific times, light was something that was thought just to be seen by our eyes. By the 1500′s and 1600′s though, telescopes, microscopes and new lenses were being invented. We could then see things on a smaller scope. Isaac Newton discovered the color spectrum in 1666. Soon the electric light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison. Light is useful in many aspects of our life. It helps us to see at night, directs traffic, helps us see while we read and gives us light for photography. It’s also useful in areas of health such as giving our food vitamin A, helping plants to grow and fights disease. We use light for everything now a days.

History of Batteries.

Batteries came on the scene around 1800. Batteries were invented by an Italian, Volta. They were rather unstable because they were wet cell batteries. For that reason, wet cell batteries were used to power stationary devices. In 1859, the first rechargeable battery was invented by Gaston Plante. Finally a dry cell battery was invented in 1887 by Carl Gassner that was much safer to use and portable. It changed the liquid material into a paste to make it more stable. In 1955, alkaline batteries were introduced to the public. Up until then, batteries had a short life and were very expensive.

Battery Lights, Together.

Batteries and lights came together. The first battery operated lights were flashlights. Today though, we have battery operated lights. Many Christmas tree lights are battery powered. It allows for mobility of your tree. Also, many people use battery lights for weddings. Battery operated lights are popular for outdoor weddings where electrical outlets are unavailable. You can also string the battery lights through the bouquets to make them shine at an evening ceremony. Actually, battery lights are popular for almost any occasion. The flexibility of battery operated lights allows them to be used almost anywhere.

LED Lights.

LED lights are becoming very popular. LED stands for light emitting diode. They use very little energy and put out much less heat. This attracts many people trying to save on their electric bill, especially with rising energy costs. LED lights are more expensive, right now, but the total cost of ownership is far less then the average incandescent light. LED lights produce more light than the average bulb, per watt. LED lights are the way of the future.

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Germany’s Gone all Hybrid

Europe’s biggest truck show – the IAA in Hanover, took place at the end of September. The sheer size of the show is enough to take your breath away, before you have trudged around the kilometres of 1,619 exhibitors. There were plenty of themes on show, but it was the proliferation of truck hybrids that made the biggest news. In truth, we had seen most of the hybrid trucks before, as early prototypes – the difference now is that some of the manufacturers have the trucks for sale.

The formats all seem to be very similar – take an EEV engine, bolt on an automatic gearbox with an electric motor attached and add a hundred kilos of Lithium –Ion batteries and run them in parallel. This means that the trucks can run on diesel only, diesel and electric simultaneously or purely electrically driven, (although only for a handful of miles). Mercedes-Benz The Atego Hybrid on show The company’s new Atego has just been awarded the truck of the year 2011 – importantly the judges stressed that it was the progress with the 1222 L EEV BlueTec Hybrid version that impressed. The hybrid is currently under test and 50 of them are to be sold to German customers to prove the system in a working environment. It will be some while before UK Mercedes-Benz dealers can get their teeth into selling the Mercedes Atego Hybrid. 

Mitsubishi Fuso

The Japanese arm of the Daimler Trucks empire are further down the road with alternative drives than their European counterparts. There are already 1,000 Canter hybrids in operation including ten on test in London for the last two years. Expect to see more of them at UK dealerships in the not too distant future.

DAF

DAF are well on the way to actually producing their LF Hybrid – the first European manufacturer to do so. The company announced that the Leyland plant would start the hybrid production before this year is out. As with the Atego, the LF is plated at 12 tonnes GVW, to ensure that there is an acceptable payload of about 7.5 tonnes – the LF Hybrid carrying a 300kg weight disadvantage over a standard diesel version. The DAF LF Hybrid will only be offered as standard via PACCAR Financial with a full operational lease contract. This means that the DAF dealer can implement any potential updates during the contract term.

 

MAN

The company has been working on hybrid drives since the 1970′s – despite this their TGL 12.220 Hybrid is still just a technical exercise for the company as it doesn’t believe that there is a business case for the technology as it stands today.

 

Volvo

Volvo was demonstrating a hybrid driveline based on a 7-litre engine that will be launched in a hybrid version of the Volvo FE in 2011. Volvo is currently the only truck manufacturer (With the exception of subsidiary Renault Trucks offering hybrid technology for vehicles in the 26-tonne segment.

 

Renault Trucks

Renault Trucks use ‘Clean Tech’ Umbrella for their alternative drive technologies Renault Trucks are running trials higher up the weight range at 26 tonnes, with vehicles starting work with Coca Cola, Colas roads and SITA. The company’s first experiment as been completed and their ‘second generation’ hybrid trial means that the Premium Distribution Hybrys Tech truck won’t be appearing in dealerships any time soon.

 

Green’s the Theme

Continuing the show’s green theme, there was not a truck on display that wasn’t at least an EEV – DAF has announced that all of their engine ratings are now available in EEV, some of which without the use of a soot particle filter. Scania have launched their ‘Ecolution’ brand which makes sure that best-practise operations are adhered to – from optimum vehicle specification to maintenance to driver training and ongoing coaching MAN have launched their TGX ‘EfficientLine’ – speed limited to 85kmh and without the option of additional sun visors or compressed-air horns on its standard XLX cab, savings of 0.3 litres of diesel per 100 kilometres can be made plus aerodynamic side cladding, which reduces consumption by another 0.4 litres. Add the aluminium wheels, driver training, efficient alternators and air compressors makes

Iveco has adopted a similar approach with their EcoStralis model – essentially a bundling together of many small fuel-saving initiatives into one truck, where it is hoped a relatively large overall fuel saving will result. Changes include new 305/70R22.5 tyres that are matched with the 2.64:1 rear axle ratio to bring an ideal drive ratio optimised for economy and driveability, a tyre pressure monitoring system, Fiat’s Blue&Me telematics, a air deflector kit, Eurotronic automatic gearbox, and an ECO switch. Not content with a production truck, Iveco put on show their new concept, the Glider. Iveco’s Glider uses high photovoltaic panels to generate renewable energy on board. The panels cover a surface area of approximately 2 m2 of the cab roof, and can produce up to 2 kWh of energy. The Glider also uses a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) to power the auxiliary systems. In addition, the heat of the exhaust gases is instead turned into electricity thanks to a thermo-dynamic system based on a Rankine cycle, a sort of compact and efficient steam machine. A high efficiency heat exchanger is positioned in the exhaust line immediately after the emission control system. The heat recovery system helps reduce the vehicle’s fuel requirements by up to 10% on motorway journeys.

Truck Not to be left out, the MAN team have put together an impressive design concept that focuses on both the tractor unit and the trailer. With the attention-grabbing headline of a 25% reduction in fuel consumption and CO2, the streamlined tractor unit differs radically from today’s typically cube-shaped trucks. The ‘Concept S’ was developed in the wind tunnel to reduce the wind resistance to levels comparable to some cars. To keep load volumes in line with current levels, the truck and trailer combination would have to be significantly longer than is legally permitted at present – up to 20 metres.

Green Vans

Nissan’s new NV400 – See our New Product News pages The big news came from the Nissan stand, with the first unveiling of the NV400, Nissan’s heavyweight van contender, which we cover in more detail in our new product news pages. Fiat had a new concept on show – a Doblo chassis cab dropside conversion – plus a whole range of ‘natural power’ range – all factory-fitted to run on methane, (plenty of that available in the press conferences). Full electric vans were on show from Mitsubishi (Canter), Ford Transit(Connect), Renault (Kangoo), Renault Trucks (Maxity), Mercedes (Vito E-Cell), Citroen (First Electrique), although dealers will struggle to get hold of them any time soon. New Actros and Axor – a small part of the Daimler display The Wow Factor Visiting the show was a little like the first time in Las Vegas – everything is bigger, louder and more professional than you have ever encountered before.

The Germans take their exhibitions very seriously – the show was open for ‘press only’ for two whole days before the general public were allowed to enter and there were huge press conferences seating hundreds with simultaneous translation into six languages. One of two modest entrances to the Daimler stand MAN’s display left nothing out Most impressive, however, was the size of the exhibition displays. If this is the German truck industry holding back and cutting down in these austere times, then one can only guess how excessive it would all be if they pushed the boat out. Daimler Trucks pulled together all of their brands under one roof – literally taking over a hall at least the size of two football pitches – containing no fewer than 65 vehicles.

To cab-forward or not, the debate continues. Julian Milnes test drives Mitsubishi’s take on the design for Roadtransport.com. For used Mitsubishi Fuso Canter trucks for sale, visit www.roadtransport.com

What Silent Generators Have

Due to inevitable circumstances and energy shortage, we lose our electric power. Loss of power will not do any good to businesses and our everyday activities. Aside from the inconvenience it will cause people, this would mean a great loss for business. To lessen the unwanted effect of power outages, generators were invented. Well, with generators, we could continue to carry out our daily activities without hassle since we do have a back-up.

We don’t have to worry about the loss anymore since generators are devised to carry out the processes that the electric power left off. There are a lot of generators we can choose from today. There are general generators some generators classified based on the energy that feeds it or even those which are classified according to what they can do for us. One thing is common to most of the generators.

They produce a sound to carry out their functions. The sound is some kind of an outlet for generators to function. We will be dealing more about the things that silent generators have that is missing with regular generators. Silent generators have sound proof materials attached inside its body. It is not true that Silent-Generator do not emit sound at all.

They do have sound, but its minimal and it can be barely heard because of the sound proof materials that are attached to it. It may be in a form of specialized metallic elements that are attached to the body to trap the sound inside it, avoiding sound leaks. That is why even though the silent generator emits a sound, we can barely hear it since the sound proof metals attach inside would block the sound coming from the generator, leaving an impression of a silent and smooth operation.

There are some devices that are not sound proof to prevent the leakage of the sound but rather minimizing the sound. Most computerized generators today have this feature. Since they are run by the computers, the sound level can easily be adjusted and certain sound-creating features can be eliminated to as not to produce sound within the operation. Since it is run through the aid of built-in computer system, they can also be operated with sound to minimize energy consumption, but the features can be changed based on the operator’s preference.

There are some sound proof internal devices attached to the Silent-Generator upon manufacture for a smooth sailing operation. Although these devices were not employed to the older model generators, there are specialized silent generators which have this feature. In some cases, this will help he specialist find out the problem with the generator. If the silent generator emits a sound something is wrong with the little pieces inside that help prevent the sound output.

It is very important to have a little background check about the generators that you are trying to get. In some instances, this information is essential in betting understanding about the processes that identify silent generators among others. By making sure about the generator that we want to get, it will save us time, money, and effort in looking for a Silent-Generator of our choice and making the most out of it.

Now find even quieter diesel generators on www.Generators.co www.EmergencyPower.com www.AuroraGenerators.com www.Generators.to – Discussion Forums Remote Start Silent Diesel Generator 6500 Watt – Aurora makes the highest quality available anyplace. Perfect for emergency home power generation. They call them “quiet” but that’s because in comparison to traditional open frame type generators they make a lot less noise. Today the 2010 and 2011 models have EPA Tier 4 approval. Because of this they produce no smoke and burn much less fuel. On average 3.9 gallon fuel tank lasts up to 12 hours.
Video Rating: 5 / 5

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