Looking at the figure attached to the article, you can see that the only > 100% efficient trial was with ambient 135 degree-C temperature (two other trials at 84 degree-C and 25 degree-C were much less efficient). The extra energy comes from the environment.
Still sounds like a promising technology, considering the fact that a lot of electronics operate in warm environments such as the inside of a computer. If we could harness a portion of that excess heat and do something useful with it, that would be pretty cool (no pun intended). Think of a mobile device whose screen is partially powered by excess heat from the processor, or a datacenter where some interior lighting is powered by excess heat from the server racks.
Comments
Looking at the figure attached to the article, you can see that the only > 100% efficient trial was with ambient 135 degree-C temperature (two other trials at 84 degree-C and 25 degree-C were much less efficient). The extra energy comes from the environment.
Still sounds like a promising technology, considering the fact that a lot of electronics operate in warm environments such as the inside of a computer. If we could harness a portion of that excess heat and do something useful with it, that would be pretty cool (no pun intended). Think of a mobile device whose screen is partially powered by excess heat from the processor, or a datacenter where some interior lighting is powered by excess heat from the server racks.