3 ms·
But heat = energy, right? So maybe we don’t really want to radiate it, but redirect it back into the system in a usable way and reduce how much we need to take
by kristianbrigman 10mo ago
But heat = energy, right? So maybe we don’t really want to radiate it, but redirect it back into the system in a usable way and reduce how much we need to take in? (From the sun etc)
- jdhwosnhw 10mo agoUseful, extractable energy comes from a temperature differential, not just temperature itself. Once your system is at temperature equilibrium, you cant extract energy anymore and must shed that temperature as heat
- dzhiurgis 10mo agoEnter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermophotovoltaic_energy_conversion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermophotovoltaic_energy_conv...
- jdhwosnhw 10mo agoThis still relies on a heat differential, as described in the Details section of your linked article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermophotovoltaic_energy_conversion#Details https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermophotovoltaic_energy_conv...
- estimator7292 10mo agoThat's not how physics works. Heat in and of itself does not contain usable energy. The only useful energy to be extracted from heat comes from the difference in temperature between two objects. You can only extract work from thermal energy by moving heat from one place to another, which can only happen by moving energy from a hot object to a cold one. This is all fundamental to the universe. All energy in the universe comes exclusively from systems moving from a low entropy state to a higher entropy state. Energy isn't a static absolute value we can just use. It must be extracted from an energy gradient.