4 ms·
Heat is energy, so I find it surprising that it can't be harnessed. Is it really not possible to take some of the energy out of a system and use it for somethin
by simulate-me 5y ago
Heat is energy, so I find it surprising that it can't be harnessed. Is it really not possible to take some of the energy out of a system and use it for something?
- willcipriano 5y agoAir conditioning is really silly when you think about it. It takes a ton of energy to move some energy outside. It feels like it could be self powered.
- BenjiWiebe 5y agoIt's actually forcing the energy apart. The energy wants make this one big mess where every bit is the same temperature as every other bit. Your AC is working hard at pushing all the heat outdoors and making a pocket of cool inside.
- ouchjars 5y agoSelf-powered evaporative air conditioning is an ancient technology. Air conditioning as we understand and use it today is a gold-plated band-aid over bad design. It's so entrenched you almost can't get a house built any other way.
- ac29 5y agoNot all heat is useful. If there was a magic device that could take any heat and convert it into electricity, global warming could be trivially reversed.
- arcticbull 5y agoThere is the Seebeck effect, where you run a Peltier junction in reverse. Efficiency is, to put it mildly, low. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_generator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_generator
- vikingerik 5y agoThis still works from a temperature differential, not just a quantity of heat.
- nixonpjoshua1 5y agofurthermore you could prevent the heat death of the universe :)
- RugnirViking 5y agoIf it got hot enough you could use a geothermal-type generator for reasonable efficiency, but that is (of course) still exploiting a temprature differential (a place where water remains liquid, and a hot place where it becomes high pressure steam to drive a turbine). However sadly that is unlikely to happen before the tunnels become unlivable :)