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[-] Glowstick@lemmy.world 70 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Solar photovoltaic is the only one i can think of that isn't just a fancy way to make steam

EDIT

ok let's clarify to say a method that isn't related to movement of a fluid that spins a turbine. So not windmills (air is a fluid), not hydro, not geothermal, etc.

[-] NegativeInf@lemmy.world 40 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Piezoelectricity is the only other I can really think of. But it's not like we are out here smacking crystals with hammers to make power.

[-] agressivelyPassive@feddit.de 10 points 7 months 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 5 points 7 months 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 3 points 7 months 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 4 points 7 months ago

Wait a minute, what IF

[-] bl_r@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 7 months 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 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Even if we used piezo, the movement of the hammer 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 1 points 7 months ago

piezoelectricity is just simple electric motor

[-] NegativeInf@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago
[-] skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 7 months ago

piezo crystal is electric motor. you input deformation of the crystal and get potential difference on opposite sides. other way around also works

[-] NegativeInf@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago

Oh! Gotcha! Makes sense. Forgot about crystal vibrations for clockworks. Thanks!

[-] skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 7 months ago

it's a special case there, because for frequencies in question mechanical quartz resonator has much higher Q than any electrical resonator you can practically build. that is, mechanical properties of piezo crystal stabilize voltage oscillations

[-] Voyajer@lemmy.world 21 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

All power generation is either solar or 'make thing spin', unless we're including RTGs and Piezoelectrics.

[-] rainynight65@feddit.de 3 points 7 months 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 points 7 months ago

Yes, make thing spin

[-] wewbull@feddit.uk 1 points 7 months ago
[-] Voyajer@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago

That's the principle used by RTGs right?

[-] skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 7 months ago

All of these are in some way heat engines

[-] herrvogel@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months 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 3 points 7 months ago

even photovoltaics are heat engines in broad definition

[-] herrvogel@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

We're all heat engines on this blessed day if you broaden the definition enough.

[-] Steve@startrek.website 0 points 7 months ago
[-] Turun@feddit.de 3 points 7 months ago

Yes? Makes things spin.

[-] lledrtx@lemmy.world 17 points 7 months ago
[-] drolex@sopuli.xyz 40 points 7 months ago
[-] spechter@lemmy.ml 8 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Seriously though

Also hydroelectric

[-] someguy3@lemmy.ca 13 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)
[-] agressivelyPassive@feddit.de 3 points 7 months ago

By that logic, solar is just a huge pile of steam undergoing fusion.

[-] Zehzin@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

Plasma is spicy steam

[-] lledrtx@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months 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 12 points 7 months 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 5 points 7 months ago

I'm the spirit of this comment, water is just cold steam.

[-] NegativeInf@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

How do you feel about water ice being a mineral?

[-] skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 7 months ago

there are also fuel cells

[-] Faresh@lemmy.ml 2 points 7 months 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 1 points 7 months ago

Excuse my blatant ignorance, but what is aeolic energy? I've never heard about it before.

[-] oxideseven@lemmy.ca 7 points 7 months ago

Garlic power.

Nah, just a non-traditional way of saying wind generators like turbines.

[-] TheTetrapod@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

Apparently it's the fancy word for wind power.

[-] skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 7 months ago
[-] wewbull@feddit.uk 1 points 7 months ago

French words are the fancy words in English. French was the language of the upper classes for a long time.

[-] lens17@feddit.de 3 points 7 months ago

What a dissapointment.

[-] frezik@midwest.social 2 points 7 months 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.

[-] Resonosity@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months 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.

this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2024
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