Researchers in the University of the West of England (formerly “University Somewhere Over There We Think”) have figured out a way to power a microbial fuel cell with pee.
OK, OK, so the ability to power a car by taking it behind the bushes and committing an act last seen in “Me, Myself, and Irene” is a long way away: microbial fuel cells aren’t exactly notable for being quick-burning or being huge power plants. The flip-side of that, however, is the study found it possible to generate notable amounts of electricity. It works by having microbes feed on your pee. As the microbes “breath”, they give off electrons. All you have to do is…well…answer the call of nature into a tube or something. They weren’t really clear on how pee gets to microbe.
These need to be installed in bars across the world. We could solve the power crisis tomorrow. Every St. Patrick’s Day, we could probably power the country for a year.
Joking aside, this is actually a huge deal. If they can start mass producing these, it could solve power problems across the world and reduce issues of fuel transport and other problems. There’s no fuel refining, no chemical processes, nothing, just a widely abundant fuel source. That’s pretty amazing, honestly.
[ via those who walk in fields of gold at Geekosystem ]