this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2026
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One day we will figure out how to capture and store waste heat more effectively.
No idea when tho
And do what with it? You can't use heat to do work without there being temperature differential in the system. Maintaining that differential requires keeping your cold side cold, which means it still must dissipate its heat. In space you would have exactly the same problem doing that as just radiating that heat in the first place. Once your system reaches equilibrium between its hot and cold sides, no work could be done with that heat energy. It's just a radiator with extra steps.
If capturing heat energy to do something with it did not require sinking the waste heat from that selfsame process someplace, every satellite in orbit would already be covered in Peltiers or similar.
What if i just want to warm my hands or boil water
You can warm your hands until you reach thermal equilibrium, and/or use the boiling water to cool your system by allowing the water vapor to escape into space!
*Rocket fuel and other launch costs not included.