Last week, I had a chance to see and join in the other group’s experience for the final project. There was only one group that I could collect enough information to write about. It is the group of Heba, Richard ad Nicholas. They worked on an experiment to determine the specific heat values of several different material, by utilizing the specific heat formula. In this experiment, they used 4 materials to determine heat values: aluminum, white quartz, gray granite and glass.
First, they put each material on a digital scale to measure the mass of each.
Second, they poured 100mL of water into a beaker, and measure the temperature initial of water using a thermometer.
Third, they put each material on a hot plate, and keep heating until the temperature reached 72 °C by using a thermocouple
Next, they put each material into a beaker of water.
Then, they used the thermometer to measure the temperature final of water
Finally, we wrote down everything and began the calculation.
After we finished calculation, we came up with these tables of date.
Overall, it seems like the aluminum getting more heat than the others. I really enjoyed in watching the other group’s experiment because they are very interesting and creative. Hopefully, we can work together in the future for those kind of project.
Purpose of the experiment: To see if the temperature over time inside the tower has an effect on the movement of the pinwheel.
Hypothesis: Will the temperature over time inside the tower affect the pinwheel moving faster?
Background: Solar Updraft Tower is a renewable-energy power plant for generating electricity from solar power. The model solar updraft tower was constructed in Turkey as a civil engineering project. It is a project that use sunshine to heat up the temperature and create a solar energy. Sunshine heats the air beneath a very wide greenhouse-like rooted collector structure surrounding the central base of a very tall chimney.
Power output depends on two primary factors: collector area and chimney height. The collector area is a place to collects and warms a greater volume of air to flow up the chimney, and the chimney height will the increase the pressure difference via the stack effect (a movement of air into and out of buildings, chimneys, or other containers).
Solar Updraft Tower works by the hot air temperature. The air is heated by the sun under a large translucent roof (greenhouse effect). Due to the chimney effect, the heated air is then sucked in by a central vertical cylindrical tube. The updraft wind, thus created, drives turbines with generators and so generates electricity (as the picture below)
In this project, we apply the same process like this in a similar way. Because we won’t able to produce a large energy so we do not use turbines and collector are. However, we tried to create a simple solar updraft tower in an creative way. After getting enough information and materials, we came up with this idea for our mini solar updraft tower.
Material: a scissor, a short wire, 3 cans, tape, mini multicenter, hot plate, 2 corner brace zincs, a pinwheel.
Set Up:
Put 3 cans on the top of each other, and use the tape to wrap around them.
Wrap 2 corner brace zincs on the bottom of the cans tower. Make sure that the bottom of the cans cannot touch on the hot plate
Use paper and make it into a corn, then insert into the bottom of tower
Bend a wire, and stick the pinwheel on the top by tape
Wrap the that wire both side of the top can (as the picture below)
Make a small hole in the middle of cans tower to insert the mini multimeter
Place the whole tower on the hot place
Open mini multicenter and set it at Fahrenheit degree
Open hot plate and mark up on the pinwheel to count how many rotation it move at the different temperature.
How does it work?
The air enters the base of tower and is heated by the hot plate. The hot plate will will heat up the air and increase the air speed. Air movement drives at the base of the tower to generate renewable electricity. Finally, the hot air naturally rises up to the tower and it called “updraft effect”. In the video below, we tried to test at different temperature in 1 minutes for each, and the pinwheel moved around 3.5 rotations at 170°F.
Result:
As the result, we can say that at the high temperature, the air’s speed will increase and pinwheel will move faster.
Conclusion:
Overall, we were successful in proving our hypothesis is true. Even though we had a hard time in collecting data, and the experiment did not run very well, we still figure out that the air’s speed will increase, and the pinwheel will move faster at high temperature.
On another hand, we had some issues during experiment. First, we couldn’t prepare the materials the first week so we were a little bit behind. Second, we changed our ideals too much when the experiment fail one or three time. Instead of dealing and figuring out the problem, we changed ideals and materials and it took us amount of time. It is going to be a lesson for us if we have any chance to work in any project like this in the future. Finally, the pinwheel moves very slow at a highest temperature on the hot plate because we do not have any fans or pinwheel at collector area to collect the air and create wind. That is why the number of rotation we got really small even though the temperature was really high. If we have a chance to work together again, we will try to finish everything as soon as possible because we do not know that whether the experiment works well or not.
I met my teammate during class, and we discussed about some ideas for this final project. However, we did not have enough members in our group so we could only think of one ideas for experiment. It is parachte. Nevertheless, I found out two more ideas that we can think about before making any final decision.
Parachute
We might try to test about how quick or slow two objects will fall down at the same time with diffent shape, mass and distance.
Leak – Proof Bag
This expriment need a zipper bag, two pencils, and water. First, we pour the water inside the bag. Then, we close the zipper on the top. Next, stab the pencils slip between the bag. The water inside the bag will not tear out when two pencils go through.
Solar Updraft Tower
Using three large, empty, clean cans with top and bottom removed. Put three of them on top of each other. The wire arch is taped around the opening to. Then make a pinwheel by paper and stick it on the top of wire arch. But this tower at place where it can catch most of sunlight. When it can reach an amount of energy, the pinwheel will work (as video below)
Conclusion
I chose three different experiments in different topic, but they are easy for us to build an experiment and collect data. I really to to search for some innovation experiment today but they are impossible for us to work on. Hopefully, we can work well on one of this.
Last Friday, we learned several things from Tom Vales demo about some topics that we studied in class. Tom Vales showed us some different experiments with Tesla coil, stirling engine, mendocino motor, quack medical devices, etc. I already knew how the Tesla coil works when I did a research for a previous blog. However, it did not know about stirling engine or quack medical devices in the previous time. That is why I felt excited while learning for those new experiments. In this blog, I will discuss about Tesla Coil, stirling engine, and quack medical devices.
Tesla Coil Experiment
First, Tom Vales set up a Tesla coil which has three prongs on the top to collect the energy. The coil is big and vertical. In this experiment, there are three glass tubes that were used to collect the electricity from the coil. The first glass tube is a general tube that we are using in our house for lighting. He did not put the tube directly on the coil, but it still lighted up as what you can see on the video below.
Second, he used a tube which has a bulb at the middle. Also, there is a prong on the top of it. At this time, he put the prong on the tube near the prong on the Tesla Coil. We could see a line of lightening went through the prong to the bulb and made it lighting up. Also, it created a noise between the lighting and prongs.
Next, he used a clear tube and put it close to the prongs on the coil. As you can see on the picture below, there was a line of bluish-white lightening that came down the tube and toward his hand. I could see clearly the white lightening through the clear glass.
Finally, he used a tube with different color inside. He used it to shows that how we can have a same gas in a whole tube. However, it is a smaller diameter on one part compared to the other part, the color will be changed. Again, he put it near the coil and it shows that the color turned pink on skinny side and blue on the thick side.
Stirling Engine
There are three kind of Stirling Engine, Alpha, Beta and Gamma. Last Friday, Tom Vales showed us the last kind of stirling engine, gamma. Gamma stirling engine as known as Low temperature differential engine that works by using a temperature difference between two mental plates. There are five main objects in this stirling engine, bottom plate (hot), displacer, top plate (cold), piston, and flywheel.
First, Tome Vales poured hot water into a cup, and put the stirling engine on the top of it. The bottom plat was heated by hot water while the top plate was still cold. There was a temperature difference exist between both plates. The displacer kept moving up and down between both plates and the piston also. Additionally, the flywheel began to run revolve at the same time.
Quack Medical Devices.
Quack Medical Devices used to produced electricity that traveled down various shaped wands. He said that we can use them to relieve the pain such as hurting or sore throat. The machine came with a set of attachments, and these attachments were suited to different parts of the body. The first one is look like a rake that he used to brush his hair. When he turned on the machine, the attachment become purple because of electricity inside. It also made a noise as what he did with Tesla Coin. It seems like we can use it to massage our head. The second attachment is skin electrode which has a flat part at the end to move around the skin (see video below). The last attachment is look like a crescent moon which can fit your throat. He said that we can use it to relieve that pain from sore throat. Also, he said that they were only about $8.00 in the previous time and everyone could buy them at the store.
Conclusion
It was a great opportunity for us to see the real experiments which we only knew about by reading and writing blogs. I enjoyed when I saw different colors from the last tube in Tesla Coil experiment. Also, I learned more about stirling engine that I did not know anything about. I want to say thanks to Tome Vales for this wonderful lesson in my life.
“The President’s Climate Action Plan” is a 21 pages document which was released by Executive Office of the President in June 2013. It has three main sections which cover all the climate action plans that can prevent the climate change internationally. The first section is titled “Cuts Carbon Pollution in America” that describe the plans for reducing carbon emissions in the United States. The second section is “Prepares the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change” which describe how to build a safer community and prepare for the impacts of climate change. Finally, the third section is “Lead International Efforts to Address Global Climate Change” that describes international efforts the US is involved in.
Cuts Carbon Pollution in America
In 2012, the U.S. carbon pollution fell to lowest level in two decade even though the national economy is still growing. To build this plan, Obama Administration is putting in place tough new rules to cut carbon pollution so we can protect health for our children in the future. Cleaning energy sources might create jobs and lower home energy bill. There are some examples about how this plan can do to reduce the carbon pollution.
Directs Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to work closely with states, industry and other stakeholder to establish carbon pollution standards for both new and existing power plants.
Directs digital object identifier (DOI) to permit enough renewable project such as power more than 6 millions homes by 2020; sets a new goal to install 100 megawatts of renewing on federally assisted housing by 2020; or deploy renewing on military installations.
Sets a goal to reduce carbon pollution at least 3 billion metric tons cumulatively by 2030.
Develop fuel economy standards for heavy-duty vehicles to save families money.
Prepares the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change
Even though we are taking a new step in cutting carbon pollution, we still have to prepare for the impacts that are too late to avoid. To build this process, there are some specific actions:
Directs agencies to support local climate-resilient investment: remove the barriers or counterproductive policies and modernizing programs. Also, we should establish a short-term task force of state or local to advise on key actions the Federal government which can help strengthen communities on the ground.
Creates sustainable and resilient hospitals in the face of climate change through a public-private partnership with the healthcare industry.
Provides climate preparedness tools and information that are needed by state, local, and private-sector.
Rebuilding and Learning from Hurricane Sandy: creates innovative strategies from the effects of Hurricane Sandy to against the future extreme weather and other climate impacts.
Lead International Efforts to Address Global Climate Change
There is no country that can escape from the climate change, and no country can duel with it alone. That is why it is imperative for the United States to couple action at home with leadership internationally. America should help to solve this global problem galvanizing international action to reduce carbon emissions or prepare for climate impacts. For example:
Working with Other Countries to Take Action to Address Climate Chang: commits to expand major new and existing international initiatives which include the bilateral initiatives with China, India, and other major emitting countries.
Combat Short-Lived Climate Pollutants: expressed support for using the expertise and institutions of the Montreal Protocol to phase down HFCs.
Negotiating Global Free Trade in Environmental Goods and Services: launched negotiations on the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) to achieve global free trade in clean technologies.
Conclusion
The President’s Climate Action Plan in 2013 put forth an action for the US on the impacts of climate change. After reading this document, I think that we can make a chance in make this planet greener. We should work together to reduce the carbon pollution which can affects our children health in the future. There are few of these initiatives that met success already. If we work together, we can change everything.
Last Friday, my classmates and I had a chance to visit Museum of Science in Boston, where we did not go any time in 5 years since I came here. It is big and wonderful place where you should bring your kids and lead them learn more about science. The design of museum is suitable for kids because it does not look fancy as any art museums. Even though I am a college student, I am still bewitched by everything at this place. The professor asked us to visit Energized!, Catching the Wind, Conserve@Home, and Investigate because those places are relate to what we have learned in class. I looked at all of this, but there were so many kids so I could not have experience with some technologies. Nevertheless, there are three interesting places as three topics that I want to discuss about in this blog.
Catching The Wind Exhibit
This exhibit focuses about wind energy and how it works. On the wall, there are so many information about power of the wind, turning wind into electricity or wind power in Massachusetts. Also, learned where the wind come from and how it measure by pictures and information on the wall. Wind id a form of solar energy when sunlight hitting the Earth heats the air unevenly. Moreover, wind power is measured in units called kilowatts (kW) which equal to one thousand watts, or in megawatts (mW) which equal to one million watts. It is measured by the total energy generated for one hour, as in a kilowatt-hour (kWh), or megawatts-hour (mWh). Also, I saw how a turbine is built a specific information and images. The picture below shows different parts of a turbine and their own job in producing wind power.
Make Choices About Energy Source
It takes a mix of energy sources to power our city, and each source has advantages and drawbacks. This place is where I could measure how much energy supplied and impact on environment. It is fun and easy experiment where I only need to mix any energy sources that I want and see how it can light up the skyline above. There are 4 steps:
I place a puck down a slot to make an energy choice.
Check the meters to see the effects of my choices.
Experiment with different energy combinations
Then, find an energy mix that makes the skyline above light up
Because I did not look at the guideline at the beginning so I only did a test on fossil fuels. I tool three bucks and the result was above the average. It means that fossil fuels has a high major contributor to air pollution and environmental impact. The picture below shows the similarities and differences of fossil fuels, hydropower, nuclear, solar, and wind which are based on 5 main factors: time to replenish, cost, amount of energy available, environment impacts, and limits. It is a great model for kids to learn how energy sources affect on environment, and know how to manage usage in their life.
Solar Collector
Solar collector is a model showing how we use solar to produce energy. As what you can see in a video above, I was testing to see how gears could run when a mirror getting a light. There is a light on the top and three mirrors on a table which I could use my hand to control them. Also, there is a small mirror on the top of a gear machine which is used to collect light from opposite mirrors. When I move the big mirror, a small light will appear. Then, I moved the big mirror until the light is on the small mirror. Finally, gear machine would start to run. When I moved the light away, it will stop. It is interesting that I could experience with what I learned in class to understand deeply how the energy is produced by solar.
Outside the Course
There is one thing that I was excited to see even though it does not relate to this course. It is dinosaur. Since I was born, I did not have any chance to see the real bonds of dinosaurs. Before the trip, I spent a little bit time to search about this museum, and I was really excited when I saw the bonds of dinosaurs in the review pictures. I learned about many different kind of dinosaurs such as Triceratops, Tyrannosaurs rex, or its footprint. Also, there is a picture that shows grouping of dinosaurs by shared traits. I am always curious about natural world and what happens around us. In some day, I will come back to Washington DC to visit the National Museum of Natural History.
Conclusion
I am thankful with my professor who gave me a chance to explore what I did not know in science field. It was a wonderful experience that I will never forget in my life. Even though I am not good at science at all, I still want to learn more about natural history and space. It will be easy to understand a lesson if you have a chance to experience with it in your real life. Hopefully, when my have kids, I can bring them there and tell them what I learned in the past.
Pandora’s Promise is a 87 minutes documentary film about nuclear power debate, directed by Robert Stone. The central argument is that nuclear power, an energy source which still faces historical opposition from environmentalists, is a relatively safe and clean source which can help mitigate the serious problem of anthropogenic global warming. This movie includes those peoples whom were once vehemently opposed to nuclear power but who now speak in favor of it, Stewart Brand, Gwyneth Cravens, Mark Lynas, Richard Rhodes and Michael Shellenberger. They talked about nuclear disasters in the past and how they changed their mind through this 87 minutes film. Also, the total money was raised to finance this movie is $1.2 million (US).
This video below is an official trailer of Pandora’s Promise movie which shows a general idea about what would happen in this movie.
Is nuclear power safe?
The answer is yes. Base on the evidence over six decades shows that nuclear power is a safe means of generating electricity. The risk of accidents in nuclear power plants is low and declining. Moreover, the radiological effects on people of any radioactive releases can be avoided. According to Gwyneth Cravens’s speech in this film, she mentions that, “Physician and anti-nuclear activist Helen Caldicott…calling the nuclear industry a ‘death industry’ and claiming that facilities from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster were upward of 1 million people. But several others in film, put the number at only around 50, or if you count some sick people who haven’t yet died, in the low thousands.” It means, the radiation did not affect dangerously to human lives as what we had seen on the news. Because of social media, we created an antipathy to this energy source without understand clearly about how it works and impacts. Also, there has not been a single death from operation of commercial nuclear reactors in the United States.
Nuclear power is greener and safer than coal. According to the information in this film, coal can kill 13,000 people every year in the United States with a few add up all fossil fuel combination. Peoples keep using coal in producing while they avoid nuclear power just because of the exposing of three nuclear power plants. They do not know that it would kill people.
Conclusion
After watching this documentary film, there are too much information in this movie and it made me confuse a little bit, and I could not get the main point in the first seen. However, everything is good and organized. Also, I have learned that no energy sources can be replace by another such as solar and nuclear power. We cannot replace nuclear power by solar. They have their own job to provide energy for human lives. Solar is not nuclear. You cannot turn on Sun in the winter to heat up your house. Instead of avoiding and looking for the other safe energy source, we should learn how to deal with the danger around us. As you can see, the picture below shows that if we take away nuclear power, the our planet is going to lose its balance.
Nuclear disaster, as known as nuclear and radiation accident, is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency as an event that has led to the significant consequences to human, environment or the facility. The impact of nuclear disasters has been a topic of debate since the first nuclear reactors which were constructed in 1954. Also, it became a key factor in public concern about nuclear facilities. There have been 99 accidents at nuclear power plants around the world. There were fifty-seven accidents have occurred since the Chernobyl disaster, and 57% of all nuclear related accidents have occurred in the United States. In this blog, I will discuss about two nuclear disasters: Chernobyl disaster (1986) and Fukushima disaster (2011)
Chernobyl Disaster (1986)
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant locates in a town of Pripyat in Ukraine, which was uder the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities of the Soviet Union. The picture above shows the power plant after the nuclear disaster in 1986.
What Happened and Why?
On April 26, 1986, a major accident occurred at Unite 4 of the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in the former USSR. The accident and the fire followed released massive amount of the radioactive material into the environment. While conduct the test, the reactor had to be powered down to 25% of its capacity. However, the procedure did not go according plan and the reactor power level fell to less than 1%. After 30 second, there was an unexpected power surge, and the reactor’s emergency shutdown failed. Because of the failure, there was a violent explosion which made the 1000-tonne sealing cap on the reactor building blowing off. Also, the fuel rods melted at the temperature over 2000°C. The graphite burned for nine days, churning a big quantities of radiation into the environment.
After the accident, officials closed off the area within 18 miles from the plant. There were 28 out of 600 workers were killed by the radiation effects in the first four months after the event. Also, there were 2 workers died within hours of the explosion from non-radiological cause. The Soviet government evacuated about 115,000 people from the most heavily areas in 1986, and the other 220,000 people in subsequent years.
Fukushima Daiichi Disaster (2011)
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. This station was operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company. The picture above shows the explosion in 2011
What Happened and Why?
On March 11, 2011, there was a larger earthquake and a 15-metre tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima reactors which causes a nuclear accident. The accident was rated 7 on the International Nuclear Event (INES) Scale. Also, there were four reactors that were written off due the damage in the accident. After two weeks, the three reactors (units 1-3) were stable with water addition and they were being cooled by the recycled water for the new treatment plant. Nobody are killed or get sick from the nuclear accident, but over 100,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes to ensure this. Unfortunately, the official figures show that there have been well over 1000 deaths from the maintaining the evacuation.
Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors
In my opinion, we should have a stronger system to reduce the percentage of accident in the lowest rate. Also, we should build a strong power plant with an thick iron wall. Moreover, we should know how to face with the nuclear waste. It is hard to tell in a specific way because it is really hard to control a nuclear accident. It affects dangerously into human health. Otherwise, we can develop the clothes of workers in power plants station to help them reduce the danger from nuclear effects.
Conclusion
The two disasters in Chernobyl and Fukushima left a dangerous effect on human health and environment. The nuclear go to food, vegetable, and water. It impacts on human life hardly. Hopefully, we will have some strong power plants that can never be destroyed.
Iceland is a Nordic island country between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean. This country has a special geological location with the high concentration of volcanoes. Also, the high concentration of volcanoes can be an advantage in the generation of geothermal energy, the heating and production of electricity. Iceland is a pioneer in the use of geothermal energy for space heating.
Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy is the thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. It is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. There are current 6 geothermal power plants in Iceland, and they are Hellisheiði Power Station, Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station, Reykjanes Power Station, Svartsengi Power Station, Krafla Power Station, Bjarnarflag Power Station. Six geothermal major power plants exist Iceland and produced approximately 26.2% of the nation electricity in 2010. Hellisheiði Power Station is the third largest geothermal power station in the world. This station has a capacity of 303 MW of electricity and 400 MW of hot water. Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station is the second largest geothermal station in Iceland which produced approximately 120 MW of electrical power 1,100 litres of hot water. As same as, the Reykjanes Power Station can produced 100 MW; Svartsengi Power Station produced 76.5 MW; Krafla Power Station produce 60 MW; and Bjarnarflag Power Station produced 3 MW.
How is geothermal energy used in Iceland?
Fish Farming
Fish Farming in Iceland was mainly practised in shore-based plants. Usually, geothermal water is about at 20-50°C which is used to heat the fresh water in heat exchangers from 5 to 12°C. It requires a large consumption of both freshwater and seawater and it is expensive. However, this process is still commonly used. The electrical consumption is reduced by injecting pure oxygen into the water. Overall, he total geothermal energy used in Iceland’s fish-farming sector is estimated to be 1,600 TJ per year and this project is expected to increase in the future.
Bathing and Recreation
In Iceland, there are 169 recreational swimming centers and 138 of them are using geothermal heat. Based on the surface area, 90% of the pools are heated by geothermal sources, 8% by electricity, and 2% by burning oil and waste. For he geothermal heated swimming pools, there are 108 are public and 30 are located in schools. Swimming is very popular in Iceland so the number of pools is increasing by year. There are 17 public pools in Reykjavik area. Also, the largest pools is Laugardalslaug with a surface area of 2,750 m2 plus eight hot tubs. Usually, we need 220 m3 of water or 40,000 MJ of energy to heat up one m2 pool surface. It means if we want to heat up a pool, we have to use as much as hot water is need to heat about 80-100 single-family dwellings. The total annual water consumption of geothermally heated swimming pools in Iceland is estimated to be 6,9 million m3, which means we have to use 1,300 TJ per year.
Conclusion
Icelanders are smart in using natural resources to produce energy and power. This country has many volcanoes but it does not mean that we cannot do anything with them. We can use the advantage of geography to earn benefit by building some wonderful project as what Iceland had done. Hopefully, these projects can be more successful in the future and we can apply them worldwide.
Thermoelectric device is made from thermoelectric modules. It creates voltage by the temperature of each side of the devices. One of the common device of thermoelectric is thermoelectric generator. Thermoelectric generation, as known as TEG, is a solid state device that can convert heat into electrical energy through a a form of thermoelectric effect called the Seebeck effect. A thermoelectric generator is made of many pairs of p-type and n-type elements. The p-type elements are made of semiconductor materials which are positive (holes) and Seebeck coefficient is positive. The n-type elements are made of semiconductor material doped which are negative (electrons) and the Seebeck coefficient is negative. Also, it works without any need for moving parts like turbines.
How do thermoelectric generators work?
Connect the p-type and n-type elements to create a voltage potential.
When the p-type and n-type elements are connected electrically, mobile holes in the p-type element will see the mobile electrons in the n-type element and migrate to the other side of the junction.
For every hole that p-type element migrate into n-type element, an electron from the n-type element will migrate into the p-type element
The mobile holes in the p-type and n-type elements are excited by the heat and move further into the element with the extra kinetic energy. Also, many of the holes pile up at the cold end of the p-type element and many of the electrons pile up at the cold end of the n-type element, thereby creating a voltage potential across the p-n junction.
If you add a voltage potential from the cold end of the p-type element to the n-type element, the electrons from the n-type element will see all of the holes piled up at the end of the p-type element and hitch a ride along the wire into the p-type material.
Then, a hole from the p-type element will see a vacancy in the n-type element and migrate in that direction
The end effect is current flow across a voltage potential from p-n junction, and electrical power is created.
Uses of thermoelectric devices
Thermoelectric devices are used for a large mechanical generation as a cooling unit. The BMW Group decided to develop a prototype vehicle with a thermoelectric generator to investigate the interactions of this technology with the power train. BMW X6 is the newest model using thermoelectric device as cooling unit inside the vehicle. It allows a smaller alternator to reduce the roll friction, leading to an increase in fuel efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions.
The second cool application for thermoelectric device is BioLite Kettlecharge. As how thermoelectric generator work, BioLite Kettlecharge use heat and cool water to provide the power for the charger. It can recharges smartphones, camp lights, GPS and the other USB devices by using 10 watt through USB. In the video below, the advertisement shows how handy this product is when our home has no electrical power or we are in the forest. We can use this product easily by using heat and water only.
Conclusion
Thermoelectric generators do a great job in providing power in this electrical generation. In the future, there will be more inventions using thermoelectric generators to convert temperature to energy. Hopefully, these products can also help to reduce the carbon dioxide and pollution in the future.
![OR002526[1]](https://sites.suffolk.edu/nganan/files/2016/03/OR0025261-300x237.jpg)
