Since posting my Solutions Summit paper a few possibilities for thermoelectrics have been brought to my attention which I have either underestimated or neglected entirely.

Distributed Thermoelectric Cooling and Heating (HVAC) in Cars

Conceptually similar to the car seat cooler/heater approach by Amerigon, a distributed TE cooling/heating system delivers climate control directly to the car occupants.  Reportedly, this appraoch uses less than 25% of the power required for conventional car A/C systems [Fairbanks, ECT2008], thereby improving car fuel efficiency and reducing CO₂ emissions.   Moreover it eliminates the need for R-134a, the preferred refrigerant today and a powerful greenhouse gas (GWP₂₀=3820 x CO₂) already slated by be phased out in Europe.  I did mention the R-134a issue in my oral presentation and that eliminating R-134a means all the alternative A/C technologies move up on the list, including thermoelectrics.  I neglected to mention HvAC in cars in my paper, nor that DoE is sponsoring thermoelectric efforts along these lines.  And I should have.

Third World Applications

I only touched on a woodstove project and I neglected to provide a reference.  Paul van der Sluis is the team leader for the Woodstove project  at Philips Research.  The idea is a simple, inexpensive stove that burns wood for cooling much more efficiently and cleanly than alternatives.  A thermoelectric device powers a fan, crucial to the fuel efficiency improvements.  The efficiency of the thermoelectric device itself is not so crucial.  The woodstove provides a number of qualitative of life improvements (reduced fuel use, fewer particulates, faster startup).  With respect to CO₂ emissions reduction, these would have to be distributed in the millions to have a material impact.  But with support from developed countries, that may be possible.  The woodstove is undergoing field tests now.

A second question was raised by T. H. Culhane, a UCLA Urban Planning Ph.D. candidate.  Culhane has been interviewed on NPR and again on NPR here in connection with the Solar Cities project he co-founded with his wife. He suggests using the heat from cooking stoves and a TEG to provide enough electricity (say) to power some highly efficient and inexpensive LED for lighting.  Conceptually identical to the "Partisan Kits" distributed in the 10s of thousands by the Soviets in WWII:  hang the TEG in a kerosene lamp or cooking fire and provide enough electricity to power a radio.

I don't know if these ideas can materially impact climate change or not.  But it is worth running the numbers, particularly because they can improve quality of life right now.  Cost, and a business model for distribution also needs attention.

I'll post other ideas as they come to my attention.