A purely electrical solution is favorable to a mechanical solution. Wherever you have moving parts you have efficiency loss. You also have the wear-and-tear factor.
Efficiencies of thermoelectric generators are a difficult thing to decide how to measure. Generally, how much waste heat is thrown at it versus the amount it actually converts to electrical energy.
The Stirling engine will seem favorable now, but as technology improves, thermoelectric generators will become more advanced. They will overtake it in efficiency. The thing is, once an item is embedded into our market it is difficult to replace it, much like the standard gasoline engine.
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