Urine-powered generator! Real device!

1. 68

   A Thousand Wordsposted 12 years ago

   http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/ur … 18329.html
   
   So, four African girls in Nigeria have created a generator that creates energy that lasts for 6 hours with one liter of urine! I know you're first thought is probably "gross!" But it's pretty cool.
   
   How does it work?
   
   "•Urine is put into an electrolytic cell, which separates out the hydrogen.
   •The hydrogen goes into a water filter for purification, which then gets pushed into the gas cylinder.
   •The gas cylinder pushes hydrogen into a cylinder of liquid borax, which is used to remove the moisture from the hydrogen gas.
   •This purified hydrogen gas is pushed into the generator."
   
   What are your thoughts??

   replyreport
   1. 73

      Quilligrapherposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      A very interesting post, ATW. I wonder about the cost per kilowatt and if it is truly efficient.
      

      replyreport
2. 60

   paradigmsearchposted 12 years ago

   I must be missing something here... Why would urine be better than plain water?

   replyreport
   1. 68

      A Thousand Wordsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      LoL. Point taken. But it's still a fun fact.

      replyreport
      1. 60

         paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Actually, they're not stupid over there. So there has to be a legitimate reason. Water shortage?

         replyreport
3. 85

   Healthy Pursuitsposted 12 years ago

   I wrote a hub on uses of urine, and part of it talks about using Pee Power to make hydrogen cells. These girls are on track. It's great that we are not only considering biomass for energy, but bio waste for more than compost. 
   
   What most people don't know is that urine isn't icky like feces is. It doesn't contain harmful bacteria unless you have some very specific diseases. It goes bad after a while because it's such a great fertilizer that when bacteria drifting in the air reach it, they go nuts and multiply like crazy.
   
   And that's my pee lecture for the day

   replyreport
   1. 68

      A Thousand Wordsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm intrigued, I'll certainly be reading them! Thanks.

      replyreport