This affordable form of pee-power has the potential to light camps in disaster zones.
Image: YouTube/University of West England
Researchers, social scientists, and advocates are constantly examining the issue of the global lack of adequate sanitation in hopes to find an economic and sustainable solution. From Britain’s poo-powered bio-bus to the Gates Foundation’s effort to turn waste into drinking water – you can see the innovative answers popping up almost everywhere.
ECS has also joined the fight with our first Science for Solving Society’s Problems Challenge by awarding $210,000 of seed funding to innovative research projects addressing critical technology gaps in water and sanitation.
Now, researchers out of the University of West England are turning the focus from poop to pee with their new development in what they have termed urine-tricity.
Professor Ioannis Ieropoulos of Bristol BioEnergy Centere led the research. He and his team partnered with the international organization Oxfam, which focuses of eradicating poverty and aiding in disaster relief. Together, they were able to turn urine directly into electricity with microbial fuel cells, the by-product of which is direct electricity.
“We 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. This exciting project with Oxfam could have huge impact in refugee camps,” said Ieropoulos.
According to WaterAid, one out of every three women worldwide risk shame, harassment, and even attack because she has no safe place to access a toilet. This new development may improve safety conditions for women in this environment by providing urine-powered light to sanitation areas. The researchers hope this effort could reduce abuse and molestation among women in these displaced camps.
With this new technology being cheap, sustainable, and abundant – researchers hope this cold make a huge impact in the global sanitation crisis.
To see what else ECS scientists are doing to address the sanitation crisis, head over to the Digital Library and check out these papers!
