Thermoelectric electricity generation

The thermoelectric effect ususally gets a brief mention in A-level syllabuses (syllabi). This effect occurs in some materials where a temperature difference produces a potential difference. It is not often used to generate power since the efficiency is low, much less than using,say, a steam driven generator. It is also used in temperature sensors which can be small and robust.
Now progress has been made and a new material found with a much higher efficiency of 15-20% which make it much more useful. See this report from Phys.Org.