THE ANALOGY. “These are very steady values: to use an electrical analogy, the nest environment maintains a “DC” difference in oxygen, CO2 and water vapor partial pressures with the outside environment, analogous to the steady DC voltage that exists across the poles of a battery. It is these DC potential energy differences that ultimately drive the exchange of respiratory gases and water vapor upon which the colony’s survival depends. On their own, however, these DC differences cannot support a high enough exchange rate, so the colony exploits wind energy to enhance the flux. The mound is the physiological interface for wind to do this work.”
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12304-016-9256-5