Home / Series / Science View / Aired Order / Season 2012 / Episode 23

Tapping Waste Heat to Produce Electricity

Heat-generating objects are all around us, from personal computers and televisions to cars and factories! This heat represents an enormous amount of energy, but most of it goes unused, a huge waste. Efforts to capture this heat, and generate power from it, are now in the spotlight. One key to these efforts is the Seebeck effect: a phenomenon where a difference in temperature can generate electrical power. We will explain this effect in detail, and introduce research in Japan that is generating thermal power using a related, but different, scientific principle. The fascinating new method that uses this principle generates electricity using electrical insulators. Join us as we investigate the great potential of thermal power generation. It is using everything from industrial waste heat to the heat from our own bodies to create a more eco-friendly future.

English
  • Originally Aired June 21, 2012
  • Runtime 30 minutes
  • Network NHK
  • Created April 7, 2013 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified April 7, 2013 by
    Administrator admin