Scientists push the limits of physics with shocking new energy device: 'We … knew it was something great'

University of Colorado scientists may not be breaking the laws of physics with their thermal energy work, but they are reportedly teasing them.

The Boulder researchers have teamed with government scientists and experts from the University of Wisconsin to develop a better way to use waste heat from manufacturing processes — at steel and cement plants, for instance — and from renewable power sites to create more energy, per a news release from CU. 

It's all fascinatingly made possible with a tiny device you can hold between your fingers. 

In a nutshell, the team intends to leverage byproduct heat from "geothermal, nuclear, and solar radiation plants across the globe." They said in the release that it could revolutionize manufacturing by increasing power generation with lower temperatures and less-costly materials. 

"Heat is a renewable energy source that is often overlooked," project lead and assistant professor Longji Cui said. "Two-thirds of all energy that we use is turned into heat. Think of energy storage and electricity generation that doesn't involve fossil fuels. We can recover some of this wasted thermal energy and use it to make clean electricity."

Harvesting heat from industrial settings and renewable energy sites already occurs through a process called thermophotovoltaics, or TPV. It uses tech similar as solar panel cells. Only instead of the sun, the system relies on thermal radiation, as described by ScienceDirect. 

But a physics principle outlined by German physicist Max Planck in 1900 has so far limited success rates.

"Planck's law … puts a limit on the available thermal energy that can be harnessed from a high temperature source at any given temperature," Cui said. "Researchers have tried to work closer or overcome this limit using many ideas, but current methods are overly complicated to manufacture the device, costly and unscalable."

The group overcame the limitations by designing a handheld TPV cell. While most units have a vacuum or gas-filled space between the heat source and solar cell, these researchers used a transparent glass separator. This made it possible for heat waves to travel through the unit without losing power — all at low cost. 

What's more, the temperature requirement dropped from more than 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit to just over 1,800 while generating the same amount of electricity. 

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"After performing the experiment and processing the data, we saw the enhancement ourselves and knew it was something great," doctoral student Mohammad Habibi, who is leading parts of the research, said. 

Recycling byproduct thermal energy is happening in other settings, too. Researchers are working to tap the computer-generated heat at massive data centers to warm greenhouses for food production. Numerous innovations are in the works to tap the hot energy deep underground. 

It's all part of the way we can offset, or reduce, planet-warming air pollution production, linked by NASA to growing risks for extreme weather. 

The scientists envision cleaner portable generators at some of the most polluting production settings. Cement making is widely reported to generate 8% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions, for example. Offsetting some of the fumes with unused thermal energy could be significant, if scaled. 

The concept is ready to deploy, with patents pending.

"We can recover wasted heat and can provide the energy storage they need with this device at a low working temperature," Cui said. 

At home, you can take advantage of cutting-edge tech to better heat and cool your home with a heat pump, saving you up to $1,000 a year in energy costs. Tax breaks of up to $2,000 remain available for eligible systems.

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