Students at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), have developed a prototype urinal that generates electricity from urine.<\/p>\n
The prototype is the result of a partnership between researchers at UWE Bristol and Oxfam.<\/p>\n
Students and staff at UWE Bristol are being asked to use the urinal to donate pee to fuel microbial fuel cell (MFC) stacks that generate electricity to power indoor lighting.<\/p>\n
It is hoped the pee-power technology will light cubicles in refugee camps, which are often dark and dangerous places particularly for women.<\/p>\n
The research team is led by Professor Ioannis Ieropoulos, Director of the Bristol BioEnergy Centre located in the Bristol Robotics Laboratory at UWE Bristol.<\/p>\n
Professor Ieropoulos said: \u201cWe have already proved that this way of generating electricity works. Work by the Bristol BioEnergy Centre hit the headlines in 2013 when the team demonstrated that electricity generated by microbial fuel cell stacks could power a mobile phone.<\/p>\n
“The microbial fuel cells work by employing live microbes which feed on urine (fuel) for their own growth and maintenance. The MFC is, in effect, a system which taps a portion of that biochemical energy used for microbial growth, and converts that directly into electricity – what we are calling urine-tricity or pee power.”<\/p>\n
Ieropoulos noted that one microbial fuel cell costs about \u00a31 (R18) to make, while a small unit like like the prototype would cost around \u00a3600 (R10,800) to set up, “which is a significant bonus as this technology is, in theory, everlasting”.<\/p>\n
The ‘Urine-tricity’ project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the wider Microbial Fuel Cell work is funded by the EPSRC.<\/p>\n
The biggest drain on your electricity bill<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n