Engineers at Berkeley, California start-up Alphabet Energy have developed a cutting-edge renewable energy device that taps the energy from an often over-looked source: waste heat. Approximately two-thirds of all energy produced is lost as heat. Global energy consumption is around 104,000 terwatt hours, which means 208,000 terwatt hours are lost as heat. If even just 5 percent of that waste heat was converted into electricity at the cost of 10 cents per kWh, that's a $1 trillion a year industry. The cornerstone of Alphabet's technology is the PowerCard, a small device the size of a tortilla chip that contains a common and cheap mineral called tetrahedrite. One PowerCad can generate 9.2 watts of power simply by being exposed to pressurized hot air. The PowerCards can be used individually, but they also come together up to 100-strong in the company's PowerModule. According to Berkeley Engineer, Alphabet's devices are the most efficient thermoelectric devices ever created.