  A new finite volume (FV) discretisation method for the Lattice Boltzmann (LB)
equation which combines high accuracy with limited computational cost is
presented. In order to assess the performance of the FV method we carry out a
systematic comparison, focused on accuracy and computational performances, with
the standard $streaming$ (ST) Lattice Boltzmann equation algorithm. To our
knowledge such a systematic comparison has never been previously reported. In
particular we aim at clarifying whether and in which conditions the proposed
algorithm, and more generally any FV algorithm, can be taken as the method of
choice in fluid-dynamics LB simulations. For this reason the comparative
analysis is further extended to the case of realistic flows, in particular
thermally driven flows in turbulent conditions. We report the first successful
simulation of high-Rayleigh number convective flow performed by a Lattice
Boltzmann FV based algorithm with wall grid refinement.
