From: David Roberson
Always remember that energy is energy and that heat energy is just one of
many types available. Generally, there is a process that will convert one
form into another, and some are easier to work with than others.
This is not accurate. There is "high grade energy" - such as electrical and
"low grade energy" such as heat.
There are always losses going from low-grade to high-grade, and only going
the other way can losses be avoided, but often there are losses that way as
well.
There are NO circumstances where low grade energy can be converted to high
grade energy without substantial losses.
With IR heat to electricity - which is the extreme case, the losses are
typically 95% and they are not avoidable, so to reduce them to 75% would be
miraculous - and in fact this has never been accomplished in practice.
Jones
