thermionic
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Eneco "developing" chip to convert excess heat directly to energy
We can smell hints of vaporware from miles away, and while Phantom has certainly personified the term in recent situations, Eneco is well on its way to joining the fray. While it's impossible to completely disregard the firm's miraculous claims just yet, we certainly aren't sold on the micro-sized "solid state energy conversion / generation chip, which will convert heat directly into electricity or alternatively refrigerate down to -200 degrees Celsius when electricity is applied." Investors from around the globe have flocked to witness this potential wonder, as its described as being able to use "thermionic energy conversion" to convert excess heat directly to usable, waste-free energy. Additionally, the uses are "nearly endless," as it could be placed on a laptop's processor to render the Li-ion cell completely unnecessary, or strapped onto a fireplace in order to generate electricity for gizmos around the house. Eneco insists that positive progress is being made towards producing an actual product (red flag?), and if all goes as planned, we could see the miracle-working chip available in "early 2008." We can't help but hand over a dash of credibility to these smart talkers, however, as the company is apparently already in cahoots with "Apple, Dell, Ford, BMW, and Boeing" to get the heavily-patented technology into their future products, but we're still taking all this in with a healthy serving of salt for now.[Via Slashdot]
