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A thermoelectric generator is to heat what a hydroelectric plant is to water. Neither one of them consumes its respective resource; they just capture some energ
by duskwuff 5y ago
A thermoelectric generator is to heat what a hydroelectric plant is to water. Neither one of them consumes its respective resource; they just capture some energy as it naturally flows from one space to another. Seeing water at the bottom of a dam, or heat on the exterior of the RTG, doesn't mean that any energy has been wasted; it just means it's reached its resting point.
- eloff 5y agoYeah, that makes sense. If the heat at the bottom of the dam, to mix your metaphors, has no further to fall, that is the temperature gradient compared with the external environment is low, then you're right, you can't really do anything useful with it in a practical way.