Is it possible to use heat as an energy source?

Question

In today's world, some sources of energy create many by-products that are harmful to the atmosphere. I was wondering if there was a way to suck the heat out of our atmosphere and convert it into an energy source, ie electricity.

im thinking of something different than solar power, that uses the sun's rays, not heat per se.

Answer 1

Heat is an energy source, but you can't suck heat to generate more electricity.    We have heat pumps.  It takes power to pull heat to a different location.      Air conditioners and Refridgerators are heat pumps.    The amount of Kinetic energy we produce from the heat would be much less than the amout we use to obtain said heat.   .

aaedit: if your taliking about solar power, it is possible but it isn't practical.    The panels are too expensive.   You can do it indirectly through Wind TUrbines.    The heat from the sun is what causes the wind to blow.     Wind turbines are slightly more expensive than conventional power source.

Answer 2

Great question! I believe the way to go is not to stop buying, but to choose what you buy carefully, then you are still contributing to the economy and others livelihoods, but you are supporting the businesses that are benefiting the planet and operating ethically. eg. buying solar panels and locally grown organic food. In this way 'good' businesses will grow, employ more people, and businesses that exploit the earth or people will phase out. I think part of what needs to be phased out is the incredibly inefficient 'global' way food is consumed so that people can have consumer choice and eat out of season produce all year round.

I agree that the one of the BEST things that you can do IS to grow your own vegetables, because no tractors, transport, chemicals etc has to be used, straight from the garden to you.

The low consumption, grow your own and environmentally friendly life is also CHEAPER. You are focusing on only buying what you need, buying long lasting products rather than cheap and nasty products, riding a bike instead of using a car, vegetable seeds are very cheap, solar hot water heaters pay for themselves after 4 years then after that you have free hot water etc.

The money you save from living like this can be put towards helping the people of impoverished nations in a meaningful way, such as donating to a charity like Oxfam that works with communities to become self-sustaining, grow their own food, promote fair trade and human and workers' rights. Find good charities/organistions that work effectively and don't waste all their money in administration. Or you don't need to work as much so with your spare time become an active member of an organisation that works to promote the values you care about. I believe this would have to be a more effective way of helping the world's poor than buying food they have been paid a few cents to harvest that has contaminated their local rivers.

Answer 3

The sun's heat is a byproduct of a reaction in which the sun sends out protons. The way solar power works is that it catches the rays and with them (actually what they are) protons. By controlling the protons, you also direct how that heat is used.

It is possible that what you are referring to could work more or less as a void, where an empty space, that happens to be cold, is placed along side a very warm place, and the heat would then disperse to reach a homeostatic balance, transferring heat to the cold place. Then you could use that heat in ways similar to how steam engines work, except that they work because of the raised pressure, and here i would be based on the  raised temperature.

The problem with this idea, and the reason for which no one uses it, I guess, is that you would never find the amount of required heat for it to work properly in our atmosphere. You would have tap into the sun's core to get that kind of heat and everything that humans have been able to or would be able to create that could absorb the heat would burn up because of the constant showers that the sun sends out (sorry I forgot the particular term- they are like meteors that are made up of molten fire, more or less).

Using the heat would only be possible if you could build something resistant enough and then get that to come back to earth with the heat. In short, and I hope the explanation wasn't a too annoying or boring, it is possible but not probable.

Answer 4

Yes, It's called a Sterling Cycle Engine. There are solar plants in use today that use the Sterling Cycle Engine to generate electricity. The sun is focused on the engine to heat it up, and electricity is generated. It works with any source of heat source/difference. See URL below.

Any system that converts solar energy to electricity will have the side effect of cooling that local environment. It's a matter of conservation of energy. By making electricity out of sun light, you are removing it from heating the earth instead.