Breakthrough in alternative green energy actually holds real promise

I've been wondering when a really good alternative energy source would come out; this has the potential to be that. From the University of Minnesota comes this announcement about a clean "green" method of generating electricity. It's covered in an article today at http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/06/22/new-multiferroic-alloy-creates-electricity-from-waste-heat/. Go there to read more details, as well as following links to more about the research and potential of this discovery/invention. Below, I've quoted some of today's article:

From the University of Minnesota via Eurkealert today, this looks interesting:

University of Minnesota engineering researchers discover source for generating 'green' electricity

Figure 2. Schematic (a) and actual (b) views of the demonstration. C, coil; R, heat source; S, specimen of Ni45Co5Mn40Sn10; M, permanent magnet with direction of magnetization indicated; T, thermocouple; V, voltmeter.

University of Minnesota engineering researchers in the College of Science and Engineering have recently discovered a new alloy material that converts heat directly into electricity. This revolutionary energy conversion method is in the early stages of development, but it could have wide-sweeping impact on creating environmentally friendly electricity from waste heat sources.

Researchers say the material could potentially be used to capture waste heat from a car's exhaust that would heat the material and produce electricity for charging the battery in a hybrid car. Other possible future uses include capturing rejected heat from industrial and power plants or temperature differences in the ocean to create electricity. The research team is looking into possible commercialization of the technology.

"This research is very promising because it presents an entirely new method for energy conversion that's never been done before," said University of Minnesota aerospace engineering and mechanics professor Richard James, who led the research team."It's also the ultimate 'green' way to create electricity because it uses waste heat to create electricity with no carbon dioxide."

This could be revolutionary since waste heat can be found just about anywhere. If they can size it right, we could generate by running on a treadmill! For that matter, this is the opposite of traditional electricity generation, because it produces waste heat that must be addressed by cooling towers or other methods. This new invention could be adapted fairly easily, I'd imagine, to wring more electricity at that existing back end of standard generators.

How much effect this may have on the alternative energy markets obviously will depend on the costs of commercialization, along with the cost-benefit payback ratio it'll represent for companies adopting it. This will be a development worth monitoring.