New Thermocell Could Turn 'Waste Heat' Into Electricity 181
dryriver sends this quote from Phys.org:
"Harvesting waste heat from power stations and even vehicle exhaust pipes could soon provide a valuable supply of electricity. A small team of Monash University researchers ... has developed an ionic liquid-based thermocell (abstract). Thermocell technology is based on harnessing the thermal energy from the difference in temperature between two surfaces and converting that energy into electricity. The new thermocell could be used to generate electricity from low grade steam in coal fired power stations at temperatures around 130C. This would be implemented by having the steam pass over the outer surface of the hot electrode to keep it hot while the other electrode is air or water cooled."
Wrong problem (Score:3, Insightful)
The electricity issue is not a generation issue. We have enough technology to produce more electricity that we need. The problems we have are transmission , storage, and reliability. While we can produce much more energy than we need the challenge is to store it for when we need it, transmit it to where we need it and to be sure that it will not fail. For example, solar farms in the Sahara desert could power all of Europe. The issue is transmitting that power to Northern Europe and storing enough power to last the night. While Some HVDC line are being installed it is not enough to get that power to Germany and north.
Re:Wrong problem (Score:5, Insightful)
Solar does not work well during nigh or storms or at high latitudes. That is what I mean by the storage/transmission issue. Sure the Sahara can generate more solar electricity than we need. Getting to where and when we need it is a different story.