Innovation

You’ve heard of solar chargers for your cell phone, but how about using your own body heat to recharge your mobile devices? No problem, as long as you’re wearing a coat made of material embedded with thermoelectric modules based on silicon nanowire arrays. I know, you knew that.

For those of us who didn’t: researchers at Berkeley have made a breakthrough in harnessing waste energy for electricity. The applications of this technology are vast, including that aforementioned “personal power-jacket” you’re craving.

Heat loss is a big issue: Nearly all of the planet’s electricity is generated by large turbines that convert heat to mechanical energy, which is then converted to electricity. Most of that heat is lost and released into the environment (about 15 trillion Watts). Can you imagine the fuel savings and emissions reduction if that low-grade waste heat could be converted to electricity? Thankfully, someone is.