The world’s largest microprocessor maker, Intel, is conducting research in order to get into the energy-sensor and power-optimization businesses.

The research is aimed at identifying and harnessing free energy from the environment, which could lead to devices such as mobile phones running for indefinite periods without recharging. The new sources could be everything from ambient heat in the immediate area, to the energy stored from the motion of moving a trackball on a handheld device.

This effort by Intel represents the ultimate in green IT - devices that create their own power supplies, without pulling from the electrical grid.

The pioneering endeavor revolves around the sensors, which could power themselves using free energy. The sensors recharge themselves by scavenging free energy, which allows them to continuously record and transmit readings over wireless networks, without any human involvement.

Intel Chief Technology Officer, Justin Rattner, presented an overview of the company’s research at a gathering of journalists and analysts in San Francisco on Friday. The research, he said, involves projects ranging from low-power, self-sustaining sensors that can gather and record data on weather and other environmental conditions, to larger sensors with transmitting devices that can help monitor and run data centers.

Rattner noted there are already watches available that are powered by body heat, as well as prototype smartphones with display screens that double as solar cells. He said Intel is also looking at powering a mobile phone by harvesting the energy the user generates by moving the phone’s trackball; the radiation of cell phone or TV signals might also be used to power devices.