Here is some analogy getting electricity energy from heat of an environment without a temperature gradient.
Zaev's work is interesting to read, but after analysis, we realize that it's all truisms and that he's never managed to produce an experiment that would surprise us. When he says that if ∂C/∂V<1 then electrical energy is gained in a capacitor, nobody has ever said otherwise. And when he says that the usual equations would no longer apply, that's wrong, they still apply, but you still have to choose the right ones, i.e. those with the instantaneous values you'll have to integrate, and integrate those at the origin of ∂C/∂V<1. For example, we could have ∂C/∂V<1 with a capacitor whose capacity decreases as we charge it. If we take the mechanical case, this would mean that its plates would move apart, thus requiring mechanical work in addition to electrical work, which would end up in the form of additional electrical energy. The question is how to do this at an energy cost lower than the gain. This applies to all parametric devices. Until now, changing the “parameter” (such as the distance between plates, or changing permittivity) has an energy cost. Ambient heat is obviously a natural candidate to provide this work, and the Vasilu-Karpen battery is the ideal example of the method. But while the principle is crystal-clear, there is no clear experimental evidence to support this possibility, not even from Zaev.
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"Open your mind, but not like a trash bin"
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