As a person trained in computer science I can tell you that computers are fascinating. They are some of the most amazing things human beings have ever invented, the problem is that they are not very eco-friendly. They use a lot of nasty chemicals when you make them, and when you run them they make a lot of heat. The part of a computer that makes a lot of that heat is the CPU (central processing unit). This “brain” of the computer usually has a big noisy fan attached to it, which just blows the hot air out the back of the computer where it goes towards making your room really hot in the summer.

While the fans that are attached to these fans are pretty efficient, a much more efficient use of the heat of the chip to power a device that would cool the fan.

This little guy is a sterling engine, this is not the first time we have covered these sort of things, you can use much larger ones, and a lot more heat to make a lot of energy, see here, here and here.

The heat from the chip causes the engine to circulate and cool a heat transfer liquid. There is no electricity used, only the natural heat caused by the chip doing it’s thing. Pretty neat. I worry that the wear and tear might be a bit much on such a complicated thing, and I also worry that the thing might be really loud, but who knows, my current fan is pretty loud, and uses electricity. A loud electricity free fan might be a step forward.