• Glowstick@lemmy.world
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    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
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      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.

      • AggressivelyPassive@feddit.de
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        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
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          7 months ago

          Yeah, it was a fun journey of learning to look into it. It’s quartz btw. Very piezoelectric and extremely common.

        • wia@lemmy.ca
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          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.

      • bl_r@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        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
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        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
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            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

              • skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de
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                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
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      7 months ago

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

    • ForgotAboutDre@lemmy.world
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      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.

    • Faresh@lemmy.ml
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      7 months ago

      I guess aeolic energy also doesn’t use steam (unless we count the air humidity), but still involves turning a turbine.

    • frezik@midwest.social
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      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
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      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.