When it comes to renewable energy, solar and wind typically dominate the discussion.
However, a new method, harvesting energy from water evaporation, is in its early stages and many believe has potential to solve a wide array of power problems in the future.
Recently, scientists wrote a model in order to determine whether or not energy from evaporation could prove to be viable moving forward, the full details of which can be seen in the journal Nature Communications.
Ultimately, the researchers determined the energy capable of being produces is comparable to that of solar and wind which is intriguing to say the least.
The one thing energy from water evaporation has going for it is the fact that weather will affect it much less, however it is unknown how harvesting energy from our lakes could potentially affect freshwater resources.]
So how does it work?
According to the “evaporation engine” from Ozgur Sahin, the process works by utilizing a material that changes size when there’s a lot of water inside it.
As the material, say spores for example, enlarge, the water evaporates and the spores shrink as it gets hot.
Sahin explains you can then harvest energy from this motion of enlarging and contracting, by connecting the materials to a generator as the evaporation engine sits on the surface of the water.
By connecting the spores to shutters, the amount of electricity that is released can also be controlled or even stored for future use.
