This week in class Tom Vales gave a presentation on alternative forms of energy. He brought in examples of and discussed the stirling engine, peltier device which is a thermoelectric converter and the Mendocino solar motor. I found him to be an intriguing speaker, because he seemed to truly enthusiastic about the subjects he was discussing.
The Stirling Engine is a devise that was first created in 1816 by Robert Stirling. By what I observed in class there seems to be a lot of potential for this devise, though it is not being widely used in today’s society. It is an engine which is used when the engine needs to be quiet, thus it is used in auxiliary power generators on yachts and on submarines. Mr. Vales said that there had been few changes made to the design of the devise since its birth. 
The stirling engine which Tom Vales brought in to class had two cylinders and used the steam produced from a cup of hot water as its external heating source and was cooled by the surrounding air.
The Peltier Device is a devise that produced work from the temperature difference between hot and cold water. When one leg of this device was placed in hot water and another in cold water the fan began to spin. This occurred because of the Seedback effect which produces an electrical currant from thermal energy by having two different metals with connections at different temperatures. This devise can be used for light weight sources of electricity with the potential of producing up to 5 volts of electricity.
Mendocino Solar Motor is a levitating motor which is powered by solar energy. The levitation is facilitated by use of magnets placed on the shaft of the motor and the base of the motor. By having the side of the magnets with similar charges facing each other in the base and the shaft levitation is produced by the repulsion of like charges. There is also a magnet which produces a magnetic field for the rotor. Besides levitation the magnets also cause a forward thrust which keeps the shaft point against the bearing plate. The rotor is a shaft with a point on the end on which four solar cells and two sets of windings are attached. At the present time this technology is being used primarily as a teaching tool, but I am excited to see what new ways people find to use this technology in the future.
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I found this blog to be highly informative. I especially liked the historical background you provided for the devices and their applications. Good job!