A trio of African students have developed a way to turn pee into energy. At the fourth annual Maker Faire, the girls aged 14 to 15 debuted their urine-powered generator.
The liquid waste invention is able to generate six hours of electricity with a liter of urine. Urea, the main component of urine besides water, is converted with an electrolytic cell. The cell converts the urea into nitrogen, water, and hydrogen.
The urea electrolysis process was created by Gerardine Botte, a chemical engineer at Ohio University. She explained how the generator works to NBC News, saying, “What these kids are doing is taking urea electrolysis and making hydrogen and then using that hydrogen to make electricity.”
Details are limited on the pee-powered system. The amount of watts the generator can pump out were not revealed.
Don't expect to see a urine-powered generator of the shelves of your local hardware store anytime soon though. The source of energy, Hydrogen, can be explosive so numerous safety measures have to be developed before you save money on your energy bill with a golden shower.
