Via 'LabNewsOnline': http://www.labnews.co.uk/laboratory_...fficient-power.

I have no idea what a linear alternator is, but this all sounds very fishy to me.

Opinions, anyone??

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The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

Might be something to it:

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I can't tell. Is acoustic refrigeration part of what sounds fishy to you? Wikipedia: Thermoacoustic refrigeration

An application that seems to use burning biomass and a linear alternator (Wikipedia) to produce power: Future Engine Technology Series BioWatt

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Thanks!

Maybe not so BS after all!

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The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

Great! A fridge noisier than the one I already have and it costs two million quid

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This is not an idea to be tossed aside lightly - it should be thrown with great force

And it burns wood for fuel. News flash: that portion of the technology has been around for thousands of years. We try not to use it any more, because it's environmentally horrible.

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"It's turtles all the way down."

Someone gave me of those "shake lights" a while back as a gift -- Christsmas or my birthday. It was made very cheaply -- a novelty really -- and it didn't last long as it couldn't stand the shaking necessary to power it. As near as I could eyeball, a tiny little lead of magnet wire from the coil broke, and thus ended that particular linear alternator design.

It was simple a permanent magnet that slid back and forth inside a coil. The changing flux induced an EMF which charged a capacitor which powered the LED array light.

It would be a handy thing if designed ruggedly, but this was just a gimicky thing -- like those "Ronco" gadgets that saturate the airwaves at Christmas time.

-Richard

A stove powered by sound waves? Too bad that wasn't available when my mother-in-law was alive. That stove could have cooked enough to feed a division.

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While wood fuel is inefficient, they are designing this system for distribution to poor communities of the world, i.e. places that are unlikely to have easy access to electricity. The wood-burning appears to be a recognition of the most likely source of input energy for their intended customers.

Of course they fail to explain how these poor communities will manage to purchase these incredibly high-tech refridgerator/stoves.

I read an article about that. Apparantly, the inventor will be allowing people to 'rent' one of these things for a 'nominal' fee.

He does not explain how the hell people in Darfur and elsewhere will get the money for this rent.

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The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

Wheat, they'll use wheat. It's how we kept all of Russia quiet about our fake moon landings, must be worth something.

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I was just sitting here contemplating the immortal words of Socrates who said, "I drank what?"

"Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot." --Carl Sagan "Pale Blue Dot"

The use of the word "efficient" sounds like another example of relative vs absolute.

More efficient than what they have now, but, is it efficient compared to methods that are used worldwide?

The article does not give any indication of how efficient it is, only that it is better than the 7% efficiency they have now.

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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

This is by no means beyond current technology... in fact I remember in my young years seeing a play called Hansel and Gretel. In this play, that obviously occured at least 100 years before the present, there was a wicked witch who only had to shout in a loud voice "oven heat" and the sound of her voice brought the oven to a temperature hot enough to "roast little girls and boys". So... I would assume that this oven works on the same basic principle...

Roasting little girls and boys?

__________________
The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

NEOWatcher, the wikipedia entry on thermoacoustics has a little more info. They state that thermoacoustic stacks approach Carnot efficiency of 40% (Carnot efficiency being an ideal condition), which is comparable with vapor compression systems and more efficient than internal combustion engines.