All power generation is either solar or ‘make thing spin’, unless we’re including RTGs.
Comment on Hooooooooooooooooooot
Glowstick@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Solar photovoltaic is the only one i can think of that isn’t just a fancy way to make steam
Voyajer@lemmy.world 2 years ago
rainynight65@feddit.de 2 years ago
But not all electricity generation is based on boiling water. Wind, hydro and tidal don’t need to generate large amounts of heat to make steam that spins a turbine, they just use natural movement to do so.
Voyajer@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Yes, make thing spin
wewbull@feddit.uk 2 years ago
Peltier Effect?
Voyajer@lemmy.world 2 years ago
That’s the principle used by RTGs right?
Steve@startrek.website 2 years ago
Solar thermal power…
Turun@feddit.de 2 years ago
Yes? Makes things spin.
skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 2 years ago
All of these are in some way heat engines
herrvogel@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Yeah but those heat engines don’t rely on spinning things inside a magnetic field. Heat on one side, less heat on the other side, and you have current. No motors.
skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 2 years ago
even photovoltaics are heat engines in broad definition
lledrtx@lemmy.world 2 years ago
What about Wind Mills?
drolex@sopuli.xyz 2 years ago
Wind is just dry steam
lledrtx@lemmy.world 2 years ago
You know that’s a stretch 😉 but I’ll give it to you. But we are not MAKING wind/steam there.
ForgotAboutDre@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Hydro power uses running water not hot water.
Squeezing can be converter to electricity with pizeo electric. Heat difference can be converted into electric directly with peltier devices. Both of these are very inefficient ways to make electricy.
Zorg@lemmings.world 2 years ago
I’m the spirit of this comment, water is just cold steam.
NegativeInf@lemmy.world 2 years ago
How do you feel about water ice being a mineral?
skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 2 years ago
there are also fuel cells
frezik@midwest.social 2 years ago
The peltier effect can be used to generate electricity from a thermal gradient. It’s not very efficient, though. There’s a reason mechanical means of electrical production predominate.
Faresh@lemmy.ml 2 years ago
I guess aeolic energy also doesn’t use steam (unless we count the air humidity), but still involves turning a turbine.
lens17@feddit.de 2 years ago
Excuse my blatant ignorance, but what is aeolic energy? I’ve never heard about it before.
oxideseven@lemmy.ca 2 years ago
Garlic power.
Nah, just a non-traditional way of saying wind generators like turbines.
TheTetrapod@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Apparently it’s the fancy word for wind power.
lens17@feddit.de 2 years ago
What a dissapointment.
Resonosity@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Aerokinetics/hydrokinetics as well. With steam, we’re creating the source fluid that turns the turbines to make electricity. Those source fluids can also exist as wind/tides/rivers naturally.
NegativeInf@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Piezoelectricity is the only other I can really think of.
agressivelyPassive@feddit.de 2 years ago
Why not, though?
On a serious note: that’s exactly what we’re doing with lighters. At least some of them use piezo elements and not the sparkly wheel thingy to ignite the gas. And it’s real fun to zap yourself with it.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Yeah, it was a fun journey of learning to look into it. It’s quartz btw. Very piezoelectric and extremely common.
oxideseven@lemmy.ca 2 years ago
The conversion rate isn’t great.
There were talks of using them in sidewalks, but it doesn’t really make much sense really. Piezo almost always only works as energy recovery, which isn’t nothing but you will need the infrastructure which also isn’t nothing.
Jyek@sh.itjust.works 2 years ago
Wait a minute, what IF
bl_r@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 years ago
Give buskers the acoustic guitar with a link to the grid and every time they play they’ll generate a ton of electricity (in relative terms…)
Electro-Acoustic guitars use piezos to pick up the audio if you didn’t know
Glowstick@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Even if we used piezo, the movement of the hanger would still have to come from some power source, which would still be the same sources like moving steam, water, or wind.
skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 2 years ago
piezoelectricity is just simple electric motor
NegativeInf@lemmy.world 2 years ago
?
skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 2 years ago
piezo crystal is electric motor. you input deformation of the crystal and get potential difference on opposite sides. other way around also works