Other projects financed by the VC fund: In BorgWarner's engine division engineers are working on strategies to optimize airflow in diesel engines for more efficient combustion.

FORBES: Companies & Strategies

Fuel cells are twice as efficient as combustion engines, and that is enough for Honda.

FORBES: Engineers Rule

And as we develop better and better, more fuel-efficient cars, plug-in hybrids, other hybrids, more efficient internal combustion cars -- the Americans will vote with their feet.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

The power production process is environmentally friendly and up to 30 percent efficient while typical internal combustion engines are 25 to 40 percent efficient.

CNN: Lab develops engine for the future

And fuel cells are more efficient than internal combustion engines because they do not create as much unused heat.

CNN: Bus showcases fuel cell technology

It involves taking oxygen to the fuel not as a gas, but bound to a metal such as iron or calcium, and should in principle make combustion more efficient.

BBC: Whatever happened to carbon capture?

Titan will be primarily used for materials research, nuclear energy research, and studies of ways to make combustion engines more efficient.

FORBES: Cray Claims The Fastest Supercomputing Crown With The NVIDIA-Powered Titan

Internal combustion engines are often 15 percent efficient.

FORBES: Why Hydrogen Cars Could Still Be The Future

Internal combustion engines have been around for over 100 years, but they generally are only 10 to 20 percent efficient.

FORBES: Staggering Global Food Waste Creates Green Tech Opportunities