Lagos school girls harness the power of pee

[joebloggs]

you've got to be taking the :piss2: its got to be a scam :biggrin:

A group of enterprising Nigerian teenagers have developed a generator powered by urine to counter the country's chronic shortage of reliable electricity. It is estimated that more than half of Nigeria's 160 million citizens have no access to electric power, but the four Lagos schoolgirls believe one solution may lie in the power of pee

http://uk.reuters.com/video/2012/11/24/life-in-the-fast-lane?videoChannel=77&videoId=239348466

[lastlid]

Extracting the urine.....

'Pee power' is possible, UK scientists find
Urine-based biomass touted as way of reducing harmful impact of animal wee

"We each produce 2.5 litres of the stuff a day and a total of 6.4 trillion litres globally, but until now it has been widely regarded as a rather unpleasant waste product.

However, a team of UK scientists reckon they may have found an extremely useful application for urine by turning it into electricity.

Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos and his team of scientists at the University of the West of England, Bristol, published research this week investigating whether urine could be used in microbial fuel cells.

The paper concludes that urine is rich in chemicals that can effectively be used in the cathode half of a fuel cell to react with bacteria in the anode.

The initial tests confirmed that urine-powered fuel cells are technically feasible, and the team now hopes to scale up a prototype system capable of powering homes, businesses or even a small village.

The researchers are particularly interested in using the 38 billion litres of urine produced each day by farm animals, which can have an adverse effect on the environment if not properly managed."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/11/pee-power-possible-uk-scientists

[stevie c]

This is taking the piss :icon_lol:

[grahamw48]

What is it...a waterwheel ? :smile:

[imagine]

imagine that:Erm: electric car, just plug n go :icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol:

[grahamw48]

Wonder if I should bottle my flatulence. :Erm:

[lastlid]

imagine that:Erm: electric car, just plug n go :icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol:

Yep. Stop the car. Get out, open the fuel cap and fill the tank. :icon_lol: Great....:xxgrinning--00xx3:

[lastlid]

Meanwhile in Japan, the poop powered bike....:xxgrinning--00xx3:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-buzz/japanese-toilet-maker-rolls-poop-powered-motorbike-143218014.html

[lastlid]

Meanwhile in Japan, the poop powered bike....:xxgrinning--00xx3:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-buzz/japanese-toilet-maker-rolls-poop-powered-motorbike-143218014.html

I am waiting for the turbo charged model.....:biggrin:

[joebloggs]

I am waiting for the turbo charged model.....:biggrin:

as long as the engine doesn't backfire in your face :yikes:

[lastlid]

as long as the engine doesn't backfire in your face :yikes:

:yikes:

Hopefully they will refine the technology. :biggrin:

[lastlid]

After extracting the urine we have robots powered by poo! :yikes:

"Scientists in Bristol have been showing off a new robot that uses an unusual source of power - human poo!

The EcoBotIII feeds off sewage, turning energy from the nutrient rich waste into electricity.

It's hoped the robot could help improve the way our waste is treated in sewage plants - bringing down energy costs.

It's made up of batteries that produce electricity, trays to hold the waste and even a fly trapping hat!

Treating waste is expensive


The EcoBotIII took around three years to build
The Bristol Robotics Laboratory, who worked on the project, said it was the first time scientists had developed this type of robot.

They worked with Wessex Water, a water and sewerage company, that could provide the poo.

Dr Julian Dennis, who came up with the idea, said that treating waste uses loads of energy at the moment, which can be expensive.

But if there's a way of making EcoBotIII work on a bigger scale then sewage plants could just run on electricity they make from the waste they're already treating.

This could potentially save them a lot of money."


http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/20557508