The most common way of doing that is to use heat to boil water, and then to use the steam off the boiling water to turn turbines. The turbines are then used to turn generators, and they produce electricity. (The heat becomes mechanical energy to generate the electricial energy.)
Heat is infared (IR) electromagnetic radiation. A simple and historical concept for conversion would be to use steam turbines. Although some research has been done into collecting IR energy from the Sun (and other sources) using Nanotechnology.
Thermoelectric generators turn thermal heat directly into electrical energy by heating different types of wire conductors. One type is called a Seebeck generator for its discoverer, Thomas Seebeck. The Seebeck effect is also widely used in voltage measuring devices.
Lower-power thermionic generators also produce electrical energy directly from heat energy by ionic means. Some use caesium metal vapor.
* Some forms of solar energy systems collect radiant heat from the Sun, heating water in the panels (but most use photovoltaic conversion, turning light energy into electricity).
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Electrical energy is often converted into thermal energy when electrical resistance in a device, such as a heating element or resistor, causes electrons to collide with atoms in the material, generating heat. This process is known as Joule heating. Thermal energy is then used for various applications, like heating water, cooking food, or generating steam for power generation.
Normally one would only think of converting thermal energy into electricity.
Thermal energy is heat. One burn wood, fossil fuel, garbage, converting it that way into thermal energy. This in turn to heat up water, converting water into steam. The steam will then run a turbine and make electricity.
In every step there is a loss of energy.
An electric cooker converts electricity into thermal energy, warming up food etc.
An electric heater converts electricity into thermal energy, heating up the house.
It is the friction in the wires that does the trick.
As in a lightbulb, the friction causes the tiny thread inside to heat up and glow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_energy_storage
tells more about thermal energy, although not how to store electricity as it.
I don't think (and have never seen) there are any plans for mass converting electricity into thermal energy for later use of making electricity again.
One application that exist in most homes are a hot water tank.
These often have an electric heater attached, and we all enjoy a nice warm shower and or a hot bath. All Thermal energy at the expense of electricity.
Regards.
Because electrical energy is so darn easy to use. Once you have that wall outlet available, it's never ending, clean(at the point of usage) and easy to turn from one energy form to another.
The other form of energy produced could be sound energy. As the light bulb operates, some of the electrical and thermal energy not converted into radiant energy could manifest as vibrations in the bulb's filament or other components, generating sound waves. This could lead to the presence of a humming or buzzing noise when the light bulb is turned on.
The energy transformation that occurs with the burning of fossil fuels is the chemical energy stored in the fossil fuels being converted into heat energy through combustion. This heat energy is then used to generate electricity or power vehicles.
In geothermal power production, energy is converted from the Earth's heat into electricity. The heat from the Earth's interior is used to generate steam, which drives turbines to produce electricity. This process involves the transfer of thermal energy into mechanical energy, and then into electrical energy.
When fossil fuels are burned, the chemical energy stored in them is converted into thermal energy in the form of heat. This heat is used to produce steam, which drives a turbine connected to a generator, converting the thermal energy into kinetic energy that generates electricity.
In a geothermal power station, heat energy from the Earth's core is converted into electricity. The energy changes involve capturing the geothermal heat through wells or underground pipes, transferring it to a power plant, then using it to drive turbines that generate electricity. The overall process involves converting thermal energy into mechanical energy, which is then converted into electrical energy.