Patent Publication Number: US-2012038175-A1

Title: Generating and using electricity derived from waste heat of an electrical appliance

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Electrical appliances such as, for example, personal computers and laser printers among others, use considerable electricity. Consider the example of a typical home personal computer that, while idling, may utilize the electrical equivalent of the energy needed to run three or more light bulbs in a household. Moreover, in addition to electrical use during operation, many electrical appliances that are plugged into wall outlets continue to parasitically consume small amounts of electricity even when in a seemingly powered down or “off” state. Thus, in a household, or collectively across a business or an entity such as a government agency, electrical appliances consume very large amounts of electricity while operating, while idling, and even while seemingly powered down. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate various embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description of embodiments, serve to explain principles discussed below. 
         FIG. 1A  is a diagram of an example electrical appliance that generates and uses electricity derived from waste heat of the electrical appliance, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG. 1B  is another diagram of an example electrical appliance that generates and uses electricity derived from waste heat of the electrical appliance, in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a flow diagram of a method of recycling waste heat of an electrical appliance into operating electricity for the electrical appliance, according to one embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a flow diagram of a method for providing a computing appliance, according to one embodiment. 
     
    
    
     The drawings referred to in this brief description of the drawings should not be understood as being drawn to scale unless specifically noted. 
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the subject matter, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While various embodiments are discussed herein, it will be understood that they are not intended to omit to these embodiments. On the contrary, the presented embodiments are intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope the various embodiments as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in this Description of Embodiments, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present subject matter. However, embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the described embodiments. 
     OVERVIEW OF DISCUSSION 
     As described herein, wasted heat of an electrical appliance, such as a computing device, is captured and used to generate electricity for operating one or more components of the electrical appliance. The components may be real-time components, parasitic components, real-time parasitic components, or a combination thereof. As will be described, in various embodiments, the electricity is generated by one or more thermoelectric device(s) operated by waste heat of one or more components of the electrical appliance, by one or more microturbines operated by waste heat of one or more components that is harnessed to spin the microturbine(s), or by some combination of one or more thermoelectric devices and one or more microturbines. 
     Discussion will begin with a description of an example electrical appliance equipped with electricity generating components that operate from waste heat of the electrical appliance. Aspects of the electrical appliance and its power generation components will be described. A description of various components powered by the waste heat power generating component(s) and/or stored electricity generated by such waste heat power generating component(s) will be given. Provision of and operation of the electrical appliance and its waste heat power generating components will then be described in more derail in conjunction with a description of an example a method of recycling waste heat of an electrical appliance into operating electricity for the electrical appliance and also in conjunction with a method for providing a computing appliance. 
     Example Appliance and System for Generating and Using Electricity Derived From Wasted Heat of the Electrical Appliance 
       FIG. 1A  is a diagram of an example electrical appliance  100 A that generates and uses electricity derived from waste heat of the electrical appliance  100 A, in accordance with various embodiments. In one embodiment, electrical appliance  100 A is a computing appliance, such as a wall plugged (e.g. plugged into alternating current such as 110/120 volt AC) personal computer, laser printer, media device, or the like. It is appreciated that a plurality of the components illustrated with electrical appliance  100 A form various embodiments of a system  101 A for deriving operating electricity for an electrical appliance from wasted heat generated as a by-product of the operation of the electrical appliance. It is also appreciated that the principles illustrated with electrical appliance  100 A and the waste heat generation system  101 A thereof are extensible to a wide variety of electrical appliances that include heat generating components, such as solid state components, processors, and amplifiers, among others, that generate waste heat as a by-product of their operation to perform other purposes (such as amplification of a signal, voltage regulation, or processing). 
     As shown in  FIG. 1A , electrical appliance  100 A includes a circuit board  105 , which may comprise a motherboard in one embodiment, or can represent a collection of circuit boards. Upon circuit board  105  (or a plurality of circuit boards) of electrical appliance  100 A, one or more heat generating components  110  are mounted. These heat generating components  110  generate heat as a by-product of their operation. As represented in  FIG. 1A , such heat generating components  110  can include a central processing unit  110 - 1  and a graphics processing unit  110 - 2 , among others. In some embodiments, such heat generating components  110  can include solid state components such as amplifiers, voltage regulators, or components such as resistors, transformers, or hard disk drives. The heat generated by heat generating component(s)  110  is used in one or more of the manners described herein to generate electricity that can be used in or by electrical appliance  100 A, thus reducing the overall amount of electricity drawn from a wall outlet. While embodiments are described with reference to heat generating components  110 , it is appreciated that an electrical appliance  100 A may also include other components, such as transformers, voltage regulator, or resistors, among others, that generate heat as a by-product of their operation, and which can additionally or alternatively be utilized for electricity generation in the processes described herein. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1A , in one embodiment, a thermoelectric device  120  is thermally coupled with at least one heat generating component, such as central processing unit  110 - 1 . In one embodiment, thermoelectric device  120  comprises a Peltier junction device. In one embodiment, thermoelectric device  120  comprises a solid state device that generates electricity when a suitable temperature differential is created across the thermoelectric device  120 . In one embodiment, the electricity generated by thermoelectric device  120  is output on electrical bus  126 . The thermal coupling of thermoelectric device  120  with a heat generating component  110  can comprise coupling thermoelectric device  120  directly with one or more heat generating components  110  with no intervening mechanism between the two (other than perhaps a minimal layer of thermal grease or adhesive). This coupling can also comprise indirectly thermally coupling thermoelectric device  120  with one or more heat generating components  110 . 
     In one embodiment, an indirect thermal coupling can comprise a structure such as a heat transfer mechanism  122  that is disposed between, and thermally coupled with, thermoelectric device  120  and also with one or more heat generating components  110  that generate waste heat. Heat transfer mechanism  122  assists in transferring heat from one location to another. This can allow thermoelectric device  120  to be positioned at a remote location (i.e., not directly atop) from a heat generating component  110 . This can also allow the waste heat from a plurality of heat generating components  110  to be collected and aggregated. Various types of structures can be employed as heat transfer mechanism  122 . Some non-limiting examples include sheets or bars of metal, such as copper or aluminum, and mechanisms such as heat pipes that may include an internal fluid. In one embodiment, heat transfer mechanism  122  of  FIG. 1A , comprises a flat heat pipe that collects heat from a plurality of heat generating components  110  and transfers the heat to thermoelectric device  120 . As heat generating components  110 , such as processors, often operate at temperatures in the vicinity of 100 degrees Celsius while simply idling, it can be seen that a substantial amount of energy in the form of wasted heat is available for transfer to thermoelectric device  120 . 
     The transfer of such wasted heat assists in creating an appropriate temperature differential across thermoelectric device  120  (a hotter side near heat generating component(s)  110  and a cooler side further from heat generating component(s)  110 ) using the waste heat from heat generating component(s)  110 . This temperature differential allows thermoelectric device  120  to generate electricity during the operation of electrical appliance  100 A and heat generating component(s)  110 . In one embodiment, the electrical power generated by thermoelectric device  120  is in the range of several millivolts, but may be more or less in other embodiments. In one embodiment, a cooling device, such as heat sink  124 , is disposed on a surface of thermoelectric device  120  that is opposite from the heated surface of thermoelectric device  120 . Use of heat sink  124  or another cooling device or technique helps dissipate heat from this opposing side and thereby creates a more pronounced temperature differential across thermoelectric device  120 . 
     In one embodiment, electricity generated by thermoelectric device  120  is electrically coupled, via electrical bus  126 , to a component  150  of electrical appliance  100 A. What is meant by “component” is any component of electrical appliance that uses thermally generated electricity in real-time as it is being generated within electrical appliance  100 A, uses stored electricity generated in such a manner, or uses some combination of stored electricity and real-time electricity. In this manner, the generated electricity provides all or part of the operating electricity for the component. Even providing only a portion of the electrical need of a component  150  will defray the amount of electricity received from a wall socket by electrical appliance  100 A. Some examples of components  150  include, but are not limited to, a clock, a fan, a motor (such as the motor used for extending/retracting the media tray of a compact disk/digital versatile disk drive), an indicator light (e.g., a light emitting diode), a liquid crystal display, a power switch for powering electrical appliance  100 A on and off, and/or an integrated circuit. 
     Components  150  include at least three classes: real-time components  153 ; parasitic components  155 ; and real-time parasitic components  157 . A real-time component  153  is only active when electrical appliance  100 A is in a powered on state, and uses electricity thermally generated within electrical appliance  100 A in real-time, as it is produced, to provide some or all of the operating electricity for the real-time component  153 . Some non-limiting examples of a real-time component  153  include a liquid crystal display, a status indicator light, or a motor. A parasitic component  155  is only active and consuming stored electricity that has been thermally generated within electrical appliance  100 A at a time when electrical appliance  100 A is in a powered down or “off” state. One example of such a parasitic component  155  is a light that illuminates a power switch of electrical appliance  100 A, when electrical appliance  100 A is in a powered down or off state, such that a user can readily find the power switch in a darkened environment. A real-time parasitic component  157  is something of a combination of a real-time component  153  and a parasitic component  155  in that it uses electricity thermally generated within electrical appliance  100 A in real-time when electrical appliance  100 A is in a powered on state and uses stored electricity that has been thermally generated within electrical appliance  100 A when electrical appliance  100 A is in a powered down or off state. One example of real-time parasitic component  157  is a power switch that constantly draws a small amount of electricity so that a notification can be provided to a motherboard when the power switch is moved from an OFF position to an ON position or from an ON position to an OFF position. This small amount of electricity is consumed by a real-time parasitic power switch whether electrical appliance  100 A is in an on state or an off state. It is appreciated that the term “parasitic” is a reference to an electrical draw of a component ( 155 ,  157 ) that would typically constitute a small electrical draw from the grid (or grid supplied stored electricity) in a conventional electrical appliance. 
     In one embodiment, electricity generated by thermoelectric device  120  is electrically coupled, via electrical bus  126 , to a peripheral device attachment point  160  of electrical appliance  100 A. What is meant by “peripheral device attachment point” is a connection such as a power outlet or bus (e.g., a Universal Serial Bus) to which a peripheral device  161  can be coupled for receiving all or a portion of its operating electricity. Peripheral devices are differentiated from real-time components in that they are external to electrical appliance  100 A. Even providing only a portion of the electrical need of a peripheral device  161  will defray the amount of electricity received from a wall socket by electrical appliance  100 A for powering a peripheral device  161 . Some non-limiting examples of peripheral devices  161  include, but are not limited to, lights, pointers (e.g., a mouse), keyboards, and thumb drives. 
     In one embodiment, electricity generated by thermoelectric device  120  is electrically coupled, via electrical bus  126 , to a charge storage device  140 . In various embodiments, charge storage device  140  comprises a rechargeable battery, a capacitor, or a combination of one or more batteries and one or more capacitors. Charge storage device  140  stores some portion of the electricity produced by thermoelectric device  120  so that it can be used at a later time when real-time power is not available and/or to provide surges of power which would exceed the real-time generating capacity of thermoelectric device  120 . 
     Some examples of a later time use include providing electricity stored in charge storage device  140  for use by a parasitic component  155  and/or a real-time parasitic component  157  at a time when real-time electricity produced by thermoelectric device  120  is not available. Consider an embodiment where electrical appliance  100 A comprises a wall plugged computing appliance and where real-time parasitic component  157  comprises a power switch that constantly draws a small amount of electricity so that a notification can be provided to the motherboard when the power switch is moved from an OFF position to an ON position or from an ON position to an OFF position. When the computing appliance is in a powered on state, this power switch acts like a real-time component. All or a portion of the real-time electricity needs of this power switch can be provided by electricity generated in real-time by thermoelectric device  120 . However, this electricity requirement and power draw continues in a parasitic fashion even when the computing device is seemingly in a powered off state and thermoelectric power generation is not taking place. Such a parasitic power draw may be small for any single electrical appliance, but adds up when viewed across the electrical appliances of a building, business, government, or other entity. According to one embodiment, all or a portion of the electricity for such a power switch&#39;s parasitic electricity need is provided from charge storage device  140 , thus defraying or eliminating what would otherwise be a parasitic electricity draw from the wall outlet/grid by the computing appliance. In this manner, charge storage device  140  continues to supply the electric needs from the stored thermally generated electricity even when real-time electricity generation has ceased and even when the computing appliance is in a powered off state. 
     Consider another embodiment where the real-time parasitic component  157  comprises a clock of electrical appliance  100 A. In another example of later use, in one embodiment, electricity that is thermally generated within electrical appliance  100 A is provided to operate the clock or for charging the power source for the clock. Thus, when electrical appliance  100 A is thermally generating electricity in real-time, all or a portion of the real-time electrical needs of the clock are provided by the real-time power that is generated. Similarly, when electrical appliance is powered down and in a state where real-time thermal electricity generation is not taking place, all or a portion of the parasitic electricity needs of the clock are provided by charge storage device  140 . 
     Some examples of a surge use include situations when charge storage device  140  provides all or part of the power for an electric motor, such as supplementing startup electricity needed for starting a fan or providing the electricity needed to operate a motor to open or dose a media receiving tray, such as a disk receiving tray of a compact disk and/or digital versatile disk drive. Often such surge electrical needs will exceed the real-time electricity being generated within electrical appliance  100 A, and can be provided for (at least in part) by charge storage device  140 . 
     it is appreciated that in some embodiments, electrical appliance  100 A utilizes or additionally includes one or more microturbines ( 130 ,  135 ) to generate electricity from waste heat of its heat generating component(s)  110 . In one embodiment, in addition to thermoelectric device  120 , one or more microturbines ( 130 , 135 ) generate additional electricity that can be stored in a charge storage device  140 , coupled to a component  150 , and/or coupled to a peripheral device attachment point  160  for powering a peripheral device  161 . A microturbine ( 130 ,  135 ) is coupled with electrical appliance  100 A and operates to generate electricity from heat radiated from operation of electrical appliance  100 A (e.g., waste heat from one or more heat generating components  110 ). In one embodiment, this comprises using fluid movement, that is induced by convection, to turn the microturbine(s) and generate electricity. 
     Microturbine  130  illustrates electrical generation from movement of a convectively heated fluid (in the form of rising currents of hot air). Lines  131  show convection currents rising from heat generating component(s)  110  to outlet  132  and turning microturbine  130  as they are exhausted from electrical appliance  100 A as shown by lines  133 . Electricity generated by microturbine  130  is electrically coupled to electrical bus  126 , or a similar electrical conduit, in the same fashion as electricity generated by thermoelectric device  120 . 
     Microturbine  135  illustrates electrical generation from movement of a fluid (in the form of a circulating cooling liquid). This cooling liquid may be circulated by a powered circulation (such as with a pump) or a convective circulation. For example, the convective circulation may be driven by heat absorbed by the cooling liquid from heat transfer mechanism  122  (or directly from a heat generating component  110  if an intervening heat transfer mechanism  122  is not employed) and then expelled (such as by cooling fins of a heat sink) as the cooling liquid is cooled during the circulation. It is appreciated that liquid cooling of heat generating components  110  such as central processing unit  110 - 1  and graphics processing unit  110 - 2  is known, and is modified herein such that a microturbine  135  is included to generate electricity from the recirculating flow of the cooling liquid. Electricity generated by microturbine  135  is electrically coupled to electrical bus  126 , or a similar electrical conduit, in the same fashion as electricity generated by thermoelectric device  120 . 
     Though the concepts for generating electricity from waste heat are illustrated with respect to a single electrical appliance, it should be appreciated that they can be scaled for use with a plurality of electrical appliances, such as a rack of computers or other electrical appliances e.g., a rack of server computers) and/or to a room or building of such electrical appliances or racks of electrical appliances (e.g., a server room or a server farm). For example, hot exhaust air from a rack, room, or building, can be used to turn one or more microturbines and generate electricity in conjunction with electricity produced by a plurality of thermoelectric devices that are generating electricity at a component or electrical appliance level within the racks, rooms, or buildings. 
     As can be seen, system  101 A that derives electricity from waste heat of an electrical appliance (e.g.,  100 A, among others) comprises thermoelectric device  120  and electrical bus  126 . As can be seen electrical bus  126  may be coupled with charge storage device  140  and with one or more components  150  and/or one or more peripheral device attachment points  160 . The generated electricity can be provided for use by the electrical appliance whose components generate the waste heat used for deriving the electricity. With continued reference to  FIG. 1A , it is appreciated that in various embodiments system  101 A can include one or more of additional components, such as, but not limited to: heat transfer mechanism  122 , heatsink  124 , microturbine  130 , and microturbine  135 . 
       FIG. 1B  is another diagram of an example electrical appliance  166 E that generates and uses electricity derived from waste heat of the electrical appliance  100 B, in accordance with an embodiment. In  FIG. 1B , like designation numbers represent the same components/structures as those designation numbers of  FIG. 1A . As shown in  FIG. 1B , not all of the components illustrated in  FIG. 1A  are utilized in every embodiment, in order to capture waste heat of one or more heat generating components  110  and convert the waste heat into electricity for use by the electrical appliance  100 B. As but one non-limiting example,  FIG. 1B  is shown with thermoelectric device  120  being used to generate electricity from a heat generating component  110  and then electrically couple that electricity to a real-time parasitic component  157  (for providing all or part of the real-time electricity needs) and/or to charge storage device  140  (for surge supplementation use or for use by real-time parasitic component  157  at a later time when thermally generated electricity is not being generated within electrical appliance  100 B). It is appreciated that heat generating component  110  can in various embodiments, be a processor, amplifier, voltage regulator, or other solid state or non-solid state component (e.g., a hard disk drive), that generates heat as a by-product of its operation. 
     As can be seen, a system  101 B that derives electricity from waste heat of an electrical appliance (e.g.,  100 A,  100 B, among others) comprises thermoelectric device  120  and electrical bus  126 . As can also be seen, electrical bus  126  may be coupled with charge storage device  140  and also with one or more real-time parasitic components  157 . In this manner, the generated electricity can be provided for use by a variety of components  150  of electrical appliance  100 B whose heat generating component(s) generate the waste heat from which the thermally generated electricity is derived. 
     Example Method of Recycling Waste Heat of an Electrical Appliance into Operating Electricity for the Electrical Appliance 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a flow diagram  200  of an example embodiment of a method of recycling waste heat of an electrical appliance into operating electricity for the electrical appliance. Elements of flow diagram  200  are described below, with reference to elements of  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B . 
     At  210  of flow diagram  200 , in one embodiment, the method captures waste heat generated by a component of the electrical appliance. In one embodiment, this is waste heat generated by a component  110 , such as a processor or other heat generating component of an electrical appliance ( 100 A,  100 B). The capturing can comprise capturing the waste heat in a heated fluid, capturing the waste heat with a heat transfer mechanism  122 , and/or capturing the waste heat on a surface of a thermoelectric device  120 . 
     At  220  of flow diagram  200 , in one embodiment, the method recycles the captured waste heat by using a thermoelectric device to generate electricity from the captured waste heat. This can comprise transferring captured waste heat to thermoelectric device  120  and using it to create a temperature differential across the thermoelectric device  120  with which to generate electricity. 
     At  230  of flow diagram  200 , in one embodiment, the method provides the generated electricity for use by a real-time parasitic component of the electrical appliance. This can comprise electrically coupling the generated electricity to real-time parasitic component  157  for use in real-time to supply all or a portion of the real-time electricity needs of real-time parasitic component  157 . This can also comprise storing a portion of the electricity in a charge storage device  140  for later use to serve all or a portion of the parasitic electricity needs of real-time parasitic component  157  or to supplement surge needs for electricity by real-time parasitic component  157 . Real-time parasitic component(s)  157  can be powered all or in part by the electricity as it is generated in real-time and all or in part by stored electricity from charge storage device  140  when thermally generated electricity is not being generated within the electrical appliance. In a similar manner, the electricity generated within electrical appliance can be provided to a real-time component  153  and/or to a parasitic component  155  (see  FIG. 1 ). Likewise the thermally generated electricity can be coupled to a peripheral device attachment point  160  of electrical appliance (see  FIG. 1 ) where it can then be coupled to a peripheral device  161  that is or may be coupled with the peripheral device attachment point  160 . 
     At  240  of flow diagram  200 , in one embodiment, the method generates additional electricity with a microturbine coupled with the electrical appliance. In one embodiment, the microturbine generates the additional electricity from heat radiated from operation of the electrical appliance. For example, in one embodiment, fluid movement induced by convection via the waste heat is used to turn the microturbine. In one embodiment, this comprises turning a microturbine ( 130 ,  135 ) with a fluid that has captured waste heat of electrical appliance  100 A. This fluid can be a gas, such as air, or a liquid and may be convectively moved/circulated by the waste heat or may be moved to some extent by a powered apparatus such as a cooling fan or a pump. It is appreciated that the electricity generated with one or more microturbines ( 130 ,  135 ) can be stored in charge storage device  140 , electrically coupled to a component  150 , and/or electrically coupled to a peripheral device attachment point  160  for use by a peripheral device  161 . 
     Example Method for Providing a Computing Appliance 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a flow diagram  300  of an example embodiment of a method for providing a computing appliance. Elements of flow diagram  300  are described below, with reference to elements of electrical appliance  100 A of  FIG. 1A  and electrical appliance  100 B of  FIG. 1B . It is appreciated that the “providing” procedures described in flow diagram  300  can comprise manufacturing, selling, and/or or assembling components, sub-components, assemblies, or the entirety of an electrical appliance, such as electrical appliance  100 A of  FIG. 1A  or electrical appliance  100 B of  FIG. 1B . It is appreciated that in one embodiment, electrical appliance  100 A and/or  100 B comprises a computing appliance, such as a personal computer, that is or may be connected to grid power (e.g. plugged in to an alternating current outlet such as a 110/120 volt AC outlet). In other embodiments electrical appliance  100 A and/or  100 B comprises other appliances, such as, but not limited to, a laser printer, a media device such as a digital projector or television, or some other electrical appliance. 
     At  310  of flow diagram  300 , in one embodiment, the method provides a processing component. For example, this can comprise providing one or more processors such as central processing unit  110 - 1 , graphics processing unit  110 - 2 , or other processor(s). The processing component (e.g.,  110 - 1 ,  100 - 2 , or other processing component) generates waste heat as a by-product during its operation. Waste heat can also be generated by other components that may be provided in some embodiments. Some non-limiting examples of these other components that generate waste heat as a by-product of operation include amplifiers, integrated circuits, transformers, voltage regulators, hard disk drives, and resistors, among others. 
     At  320  of flow diagram  300 , in one embodiment, the method provides a thermoelectric device that is thermally coupled with the processing component and configured for generating electricity from waste heat of the processing component. In one embodiment, this comprises providing thermoelectric device  120  which is coupled directly or indirectly (such as via heat transfer mechanism  122 ) with processing component (e.g.,  110 - 1 ,  110 - 2 , or other processing component). In some embodiments, the thermoelectric device may also be coupled one or more other components of the computing appliance that also produce waste heat. 
     At  330  of flow diagram  300 , in one embodiment, the method provides a charge storage device that is electrically coupled with the thermoelectric device and configured to charge from the electricity generated by the thermoelectric device. This can comprise electrically coupling charge storage device  140  with thermoelectric device  120  and charging charge storage device  140  with some portion of the electricity generated by thermoelectric device  120 . In one embodiment, this electrical coupling is accomplished with electrical bus  126 . It is appreciated that one or more components  150  can be coupled with charge storage device  140  via electrical bus  126 . 
     At  340  of flow diagram  300 , in one embodiment, the method provides a real-time parasitic component of an electrical appliance. The real-time parasitic component is electrically coupled with a thermoelectric device and with a charge storage device. In one embodiment, this can comprise real-time parasitic component  157  that is electrically coupled with thermoelectric device  120  via electrical bus  126 . It is appreciated that in some embodiments, a plurality of real-time parasitic components  157  may be similarly coupled with thermoelectric device  120  to receive all or part of their electricity needs from the electricity generated by thermoelectric device  120 . The real-time parasitic component  157  receives all or a portion of real-time operating electricity for the real-time parasitic component  157  from thermoelectric device  120  and all or a portion of parasitic operating electricity for real-time parasitic component  157  from charge storage device  140 . In one embodiment, surge electricity needs of real-time parasitic component  157  that are over and above the electricity provided by thermoelectric device  120  are provided by charge storage device  140 . In one embodiment, real-time electricity needs over and above the surge capacity of charge storage device  140  and/or parasitic electricity needs over and above the capacity of charge storage device  140  default to being provided by the electricity grid (e.g., from wall socket connected electricity). Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more real-time components  153  and/or parasitic components  155  can be similarly electrically coupled with thermoelectric device  120 . 
     At  350  of flow diagram  300 , in one embodiment, the method provides a heat transfer mechanism that is thermally coupled with the thermoelectric device and also coupled with one or more heat generating components of the computing appliance. This can comprise providing heat transfer mechanism  122  in a fashion such that it is thermally coupled with thermoelectric device  120  and is also thermally coupled with one or more processors (e.g.,  110 - 1 ,  110 - 2 , and/or other processing component), one or more other heat generating components of the computing appliance, and/or some combination of one or more processors and other heat generating components. In this manner, heat generated from one or more heat generating components is transferred to thermoelectric device  120  and/or to other electricity generating means such as microturbine  135 . 
     At  360  of flow diagram  300 , in one embodiment, the method providing a heat sink thermally coupled with the thermoelectric device. In one embodiment, this comprises providing a heat sink  124  that is disposed on a surface of thermoelectric device  120  that not the surface of thermoelectric device  120  which is thermally coupled with a heat generating component  110 . 
     At  370  of flow diagram  300 , in one embodiment, the method provides a microturbine electrically coupled with the storage device. The microturbine is configured to generate additional electricity from waste heat radiated from the computing appliance as a by-product of the operation of the computing appliance. For example, in one embodiment, fluid movement induced by convection via the waste heat of one or more heat generating components is used to turn the microturbine or microturbines that are electrically coupled with the charge storage device. In one embodiment, this comprises charge storage device  140  (or similar charge storage) being additionally or alternatively electrically coupled with electricity generated by means such as microturbine  130  and/or microturbine  135 . This electrical coupling is accomplished using electrical bus  126  or similar electrical bus. In one embodiment, the electricity generated by microturbine  130  and/or microturbine  135  is used in real-time to power a real-time component  153 , a real-time parasitic component  157 , and/or to provide electricity to a peripheral device  161  via a peripheral device attachment point  160 . This electricity can be used separately from or in combination with electricity generated by thermoelectric device  120 . Additionally, the electricity generated by microturbine  130  and/or microturbine  135  can be stored in charge storage device  140  for surge use or later use by a component  150  and/or by a peripheral device  161 . 
     Example embodiments of the subject matter are thus described. Although various embodiments of the subject matter have been described in a language specific; to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims and their equivalents.