Could Urine Soon Power Your Home?
- Posted on November 11, 2011 at 5:06pm by
Liz Klimas
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A new study published by researchers at University of West England, Bristol, states that urine is full of chemicals that can be used to generate electricity and with each flush could be draining valuable energy.
The Guardian reports that collectively the human race produces 6.4 trillion liters of urine per day and farm animals, 38 billion liters per day. Ioannis Ieropoulos and his colleagues conducted research examining the technique of using microbial fuel cells powered by urine and found that it worked:
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.
The fuel cells would effectively clean the urine so that it could be safely discharged into the environment, removing the need for costly and energy-intensive treatment by wastewater companies.
Ieropoulos explained that, while the team managed to produce only a small amount of power during trials, it is now looking at stacking up the fuel cells so that the stream of urine runs through the system and produces more power.
“The impact of this could be huge, since it enables us to think of ‘waste’ in a new way, and offers great potential for the future,” he said.
In a 2008 study, researchers at the Biodesign Institute were able to create a microbial fuel cell. Bacteria have evolved to utilize almost any chemical as a food source. In the microbial fuel cell, bacteria form a biofilm, a living community that is attached to the electrode by a sticky sugar and protein coated biofilm matrix. When grown without oxygen, the byproducts of bacterial metabolism of waste include carbon dioxide, electrons and hydrogen ions. Electrons produced by the bacteria are shuttled onto the electrode by the biofilm matrix, creating a thriving ecosystem called the biofilm anode and generating electricity. (Image: Janelle Curtis, Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University)
This isn’t the first time by a long shot that human or animal waste has been researched as a potential source of energy. Earlier this year, we reported a motorcycle that ran on human “biogas” — the seat of the cycle was a toilet.
[H/T Gizmodo]
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Comments (128)
ThomasNast
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 9:34amThe Guardian reports that collectively the human race produces 6.4 trillion liters of urine per day and farm animals, 38 billion liters per day.
Factoid of the day!
“..byproducts of bacterial metabolism of waste include carbon dioxide, electrons and hydrogen ions.”
Carbon dioxide?!? Drat.. that’s almost as bad as electrons!
Maybe OWS Occupestic luv is all the power we need?
Report Post »db321
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 10:07amLiberal progressive and atheist’s would love to try and fix everything that God did wrong when he created the World.
Report Post »12thArticle
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 12:45pmHas anyone done the math here? 6,400,000,000,000 liters of urine per day divided by 7,000,000,000 people. That means each of us pee 900 liters per day. This article doesn’t pass the smell test.
Report Post »brickmoon
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 4:31pm12th, as I noted in the first comment on this story, the original Guardian article cited here messed up first — should be 6.4 trillion liters per year, instead of per day.
They must’ve gotten the numbers from Al Gore.
Report Post »Carborendum
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 4:48pmNo, that’s 6.4 Billion with a “B” not Trillion.
Report Post »brickmoon
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 5:54pmNope, Carb, I’m sure they meant 6.4 trillion liters per year, which comes out to the 2.5 liters per person per day figure mentioned in the Guardian article, which has yet to be corrected.
6.4 billion liters per day would equal about .86 liters per person per day.
If only I got paid as an assistant editor for The Blaze. (sigh)
Report Post »OmikeO
Posted on November 13, 2011 at 2:55pmBRICKMOON
Report Post »7.000.000.000 people peeing 6.400.000.000 liters per day can’t pee 86 liter each. Simple math.
7B/6.4B= 1.09 liters per person a day. Considering babes and small children, people who live in colder areas on that planet or people like me who pee less than 1LPD :) you get 1.5 LPD for an average person.
brickmoon
Posted on November 14, 2011 at 12:13am@OmikeO
Oops, don’t know how I typed the 0.86, (so you can see the decimal point in the previous post) but we’re both wrong — actually should be 0.914 liters per person, if they really meant 6.4 Billion liters per day. (6.4 billion liters divided among 7 billion people)
I’m just going by the the figures on the Guardian site, which first state that the average amount produced per person per day is 2.5 liters:
“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.”
If we presume that the 2.5 liter figure is correct:
6.4 trillion / 7 billion = about 914 liters each per day. (BZZZZT!)
914/365 = ~2.5, the first number cited in the article.
So, if the article would have been consistent if it read, “We each produce 2.5 litres of the stuff a day and a total of 6.4 trillion litres globally PER YEAR.”
or
“We each produce 2.5 litres of the stuff a day and a total of 17.5 billion liters globally.”
Gee whiz, I hope it never leaks out that I’ve made much a doo over a wee bit of yellow journalism!
Report Post »capitalismrocks
Posted on November 14, 2011 at 9:42amIf Carbon is so bad…. why do we all exhale it ;-)
Report Post »Cerealface
Posted on November 14, 2011 at 10:44amyou guys act surprised.
Cows already power Farms with METHANE.
Report Post »thegodfather
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 7:59amIf this is true, Zuccotti Park may be the new “Urine Cartel” of America.
Report Post »poorrichard09
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 8:17amPower to the pee-pull!
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 8:38amDamn… this will kill Obama’s CrapMobile!
Report Post »EchoChuck
Posted on November 13, 2011 at 1:30am@LukerW You talking about the Chevy Volt?
Report Post »GTH
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 7:45amWhat a BS story this is! Where do you find these stupid things GB?
Report Post »Alvis Prezley
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 9:12pmthat riht gth ……you you you idiot.
Report Post »RichEG
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 7:38amI can see how this is possible as the other human waste has been powering the government for decades.
Report Post »katefromsc
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 1:49pmYou took the words right out of my mouth !! Love it !
Report Post »DJEyeDub
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 2:11pmNice.
Report Post »80mesh
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 7:30amwaddya wanna do boy ??? write your name in the snow or freeze tonite ?
Report Post »endgamer
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 7:08amI used to drive a V8 now I drive a urin8.. Piss poor no more!
Report Post »Oldtexan in support of Israel
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 7:29amI can just see it now someone up under a bull or behind a cow with a bucket.
Report Post »db321
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 10:10amAt least these wacho’s are not picking on Cows for farting.
Report Post »XdemXrepub
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 6:52amI hear the Obama Administration has provided a guaranteed loan to a start-up company called Urinedra .
Report Post »t00nces2
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 6:59amDoesn’t that just piss you off!?
Report Post »t00nces2
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 7:02amOn another note, if more pee will provide more power for my home, I wonder if the electrical savings will be enough to buy more beer and coffee…
Report Post »XdemXrepub
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 7:52amYou know how all of these alternate energy sources produce. It will probably be a wash
Report Post »XdemXrepub
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 9:32amI did some research and found out “Urinedra” is an off-shoot of “Urethra” , a European corporation.
Report Post »XdemXrepub
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 6:46amToo bad one of the by-products is carbon dioxide. “Scientist” say it causes global warming,
Report Post »MrObvious
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 8:52pmQuick plug all the volcanoes.
Report Post »Opps, too late, one just pushed out more CO2 in the last few minutes than all the cars in the world did last year.
O wait, we can all pee on it.
O wait, then weed have even more CO2 man. It be like wasted man.
Diane TX
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 5:27amHey, I’m ready for my pee to power my home. I do have one question, though. Will the government tax my pee?
Report Post »louise
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 6:00amhahaha
Report Post »TRUTHandFREEDOM
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 6:48amTX,
No. This is from an English university, so we’d probably have to set up a wealth transferring global fund to finance this important planet saving process. It will work on a hockey stick scale (handle up) of investment, organizing and beaurocracy supported by Penn State science labs.
Pretty sad that trust has become so weak that we can even trust scientists to be honest.
Report Post »I’ll need to see MUCH evidence on this one (as well as a full list of investors).
Roywalling
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 8:27ambama is going to hire a socialist “pee czar” to watch you pee,to dertermine how much you can pee per day & if you are over the limlt,you will be taxed!
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 8:56amYou can count on it,the government has been ******* on all of us for a century.
Report Post »hottips2011
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 9:48amMaryland is increasing their flush tax, if gov’t can tax, they will tax.
Report Post »War_Vet
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 5:13amThe OWS crowd has a surplus of energy soaked into their tents, sleeping bags, clothing and dredlocks. I wonder if they will convert their shanty towns to yellow energy or keep using it as perfume?
Report Post »Country_of_Arizona
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 3:02amHow is it that all these bright ideas come out of that baston of deep thinkers, England?? NOTE to the Brits: why are you still occupying part of Ireland? It’s time for you colonist to leave–the PLO=freedeom fighters—IRA=terrorist org. Let me ask you-who‘s fighting to regain their homeland and to see it reunited with it’s Motherland???
Report Post »Theodwulf
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 4:33amFunny …many people residing in Northern Ireland actually want to be part of the UK and not part of the failed Irish Republic , it is hardly an “occupation” and doesn’t bear any resemblence to the Israel/Palestine situation.
Report Post »GumRock
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 2:45amA keg of beer for every home
Report Post »Alan
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 2:42amIf urine can power a house, I’m gonna have around ten million spare volts for sale. Anybody buying?
Report Post »Hepcat
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 2:31amForget Green Power. Yellow Power is the future.
Report Post »wbalzley
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 2:13amI remember way back when I was in 5th grade, my math teacher told us about a farmer friend of his in Pennsylvania who took a tank and filled it with cow manure. He build a small fire under the tank, and piped the methane to a generator. With this he was able to power his entire farm, and sell the surplus to the power company (PP&L).
This was back in 1990. It was then that I came up with the idea to do the same thing with human waste. Everyone thought I was CRAZY…
Report Post »jollylama
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 1:26amCould Urine Soon Power Your Home? Sure.. If complete CRAP can run the White House then anything is possible.
Report Post »mauijonny
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 2:17amLOL! Oh, that was funny.
Report Post »mpropps
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 2:24amLOL, that is awesome and I couldn’t agree more!!!!
Report Post »War_Vet
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 5:08amhahaha .. I need that !
Report Post »Kevin The Elder
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 5:42amSuper! Thanks, I think we all needed that.
Report Post »ramburner
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 1:16amAny source of water has H2O. That means two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. What is wrong with HHO generation of power for all automotive and trucks, etc.? See YouTube for devices that are currently running vehicles of all sizes on 100% HHO. The problem is: if the designer does NOT play ball with the oil companies, they are suddenly “missing”. The world is SO corrupt, we have cold fusion presently working and all sort of vehicles running on water, but the corruption of society is keeping these products from being produced. Magnetic technology that keeps a motor spinning. Motors are generators when hooked up correctly. One 5 horsepower motor can generate all the power many homes need. This silent technology already exists. Why are they not available on the market? Various people around the world have tested each of these devices. You Tube videos tell their story and how each of these works. One could argue that the videos are made up, but too many variations in the devices and two many people with very little education and high level education makes the videos very credible! What is wrong with our society that these devices are not available? Why do we continue to stumble on nuclear power when safe ways of making energy are environmentally safe and working today? We have power available from wood gas, plastic waste and all sorts of alternative sources.
Report Post »Apple Bite
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 2:33amHHO is indeed very interesting and a wonder why auto makers don’t utilize it. Of course, Oil companies want to make their dough as well… Everyone has to come together at some point.
But back on topic, the stench this stuff would create would put an elephant out of it’s mind. They want to talk about human waste and using it to power things we use, how about some kind of filtering device to get rid of the vast amount of ammonia it would create while heating up? That’s no better for air quality than oil products, and there’s no guarantee it would give the same kind of results one would get from Oil.
Report Post »PatriotDadOfSix
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 2:08pmRamburner..I’m interested in both vehicle and dwelling information on this topic. chuck65pa@hotmail.com
Report Post »PatriotDadOfSix
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 2:10pmI’m interested in learning more.
Report Post »ramburner
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 6:14pm@Patriot….. I will be sending you information on both, thanks for the inquiry.
Report Post »welovetheUSA
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 1:09amLeave things to liberals and this is what you get………..hello…..Can we please get the real thinkers on this, please.
Report Post »louise
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 6:04amRAMBURNER,
How can I buy shares of stock? :)
Report Post »ramburner
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 11:06am@Louise; I will be building the HHO device in two or three different configurations for use on bus, jeepney, cars and trucks and also motorcycle in the Philippines. I am doing research now to determine which design develops the most HHO with the least amount of energy input. I will also be modifying a motor to make it free run with just a twist of the armature, while generating enough energy to keep it running and also developing enough electricity to run most homes. Anyone who wants to contact me directly for either business interest or a device for your vehicle, can respond to this response and we will get in touch once I post an email address for this purpose.
Report Post »ramburner
Posted on November 13, 2011 at 8:07pmFor those of you that may be interested in either an HHO or Magnetic Driven Motor/Generator for whole home electricity source, please contact: AlternativeEnergy.Innovation@gmail.com
Report Post »patbarker
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 1:02am…just put a few gallons of water in the car…drive for hours!!
Report Post »ramburner
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 1:22am27 gallons of water brings you from the west coast to the east coast of the USA. The typical user will use only a few liters of water a week, instead of spending $80 USD for one fill up of gasoline or diesel. Our society is CORRUPT and the oil companies are behind keeping devices that produce HHO from the marketplace.
Report Post »ScienceIsNotEvil
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 9:01pmWell that and the minor issue that it takes more energy to break about the H2O then you get by burning it. Unless you are saying that you have found a way around the laws of thermodynamics.
Report Post »ramburner
Posted on November 13, 2011 at 5:41pm@Science…. It is hard to argue with the FACT that installing an HHO device that just supplements gasoline through the cars engine increases gas mileage by 20 – 90%. If you install an HHO generator large enough – lets say it takes the room of a large car battery box and it includes cooling fan, water bubbler spark arrestor and the HHO generator – you can totally replace the gasoline ad run the vehicle on 100% water! I don’t know about you, but every time I have had to fill up my 3.5L car, at a cost well above the cost of water, I appreciate how much energy I leave for YOU to purchase. My car emits nearly Zero emmisions as tested. So skeptics who point out the “science” behind this process are really against the environment, in favor of global warming and the purchase of carbon credits so they can feel good about their knowledge and the fact that they have helped the big oil companies keep their foot on the little guys neck. Take your science and use it to clean out the passage between your ears, my wallet tells the story and so do the emmisions from my car.
Report Post »KusoJiJi
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 1:01amwoohooo hand me a beer!!!!
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 12:14amThat puts a new spin on the saying, “p!ss on a sparkplug”
Report Post »tyuchic
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 12:11amdon‘t want to think about how you’d have to fill your tank
Report Post »Kevin The Elder
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 5:46amEspecially for the women.
Report Post »treas54
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 12:10amI think this could save us all. This could create jobs for all the OWS participants, There will be a new entitlement program where they are served all the beer they can drink and they can stand around with a pot to piss in, instead of on themselves. Win, Win!
Report Post »clawless
Posted on November 11, 2011 at 11:47pmUrine and manure powers washington right now. Maybe they can get their electric that way too.
Report Post »brickmoon
Posted on November 11, 2011 at 11:16pmI think the Guardian site missed the mark on the measurements cited in the article above.
The estimate for farm animals seems about right, but if the entire human race produced 6.4 trillion liters of urine a day, that would amount to about 914 liters, or 241 gallons per person per day. Using the old English “trillion,” it would be 241 million gallons per day.
Either they meant “per year,” or they’re getting the numbers from Al Gore.
Report Post »ramburner
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 1:30amWhatever the real number is; our society is wasting a useful source of energy by developing treatment plants in large scale rather than by promoting every energy source, even biological sources. Whole cities are using partial waste water in the fresh water drinking systems. I have lived in New Jersey and found that a major source of water is the Hudson river. Really? Yes, all along the river we dump all sorts of waste into the river, then whole cities drink that waste and we wonder why we have sickness like never before in history. I have also lived in Tampa, FL and they boast about reusing waste water in the cities fresh water supply. Drink up! Creating the energy we need from waste water as we purify it seems like the right thing to do!
Report Post »mauijonny
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 2:33amUm…RAM…’we have sickness like never before in history…’ Really:? Huh.
As for using human waste for fuel? Why not? With all the sickness and degradation (sarc), we have a mere 7 billion folks on the planet who could all be whiz kids (oh, gosh, I make me laugh). I think it could be ‘redistribution’ at its finest.
Report Post »ramburner
Posted on November 12, 2011 at 6:12pmUm…Maui….”‘we have sickness like never before in history….’ Really:? Huh.“ Let me mention just a few that have crept in and been ”discovered” just since the late 1940′s. Have you ever heard of ADHD, COPD, Chronic Fatigue, Sarcoidosis just to name a few. ADHD is believed to be caused by heavy metal contamination – in the shots that kids are REQUIRED to take in order to get into school; or could it be the drinking water from our pristine sources of water, at the mouth of the Hudson River to name just one location. This is where all the chemicals get washed downstream and are just ready to get deposited into the ocean, yet all surrounding towns in upper Jersey think it’s ok to drink! Keep drinking that diet soda, sweetened with Aspartame – a rat poison that kills rats by destroying their brain. Aspartame is known to be an excitotoxin that over stimulates brain cells and makes them form connections continually without rest until they literally die of over stimulation. How about that “safe” chemical, Fluoride found in most cities drinking water that destroys the Thyroid. You can believe anything you want, but I have Sarcoid and a hypothyroid condition. I was misdiagnosed with Chronic Fatigue and have friends with kids that are afflicted with ADHD and another friend with COPD. These are all relatively new diseases that are traced to heavy metal contamination and mold as the root cause. Please get the facts before you speak next time.
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