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of Christian Lutz am 23.07.2021
ReutersTurning poop into money: high-tech loo from Korea generates electricity and saves water
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Energy can also be generated from methane and this is what people emit every day. A South Korean researcher has now designed a system with which he can generate energy from it.
At the South Korean Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Cho Jea-weon, Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Technology, developed an environmentally friendly toilet. The “BeeVi” is connected to the prototype of a biogas plant via a pipe system that sucks off the excrement with negative pressure. The vacuum system saves water and reduces the collection volume. Once in the reactor of the biogas plant, microorganisms convert the feces and urine into methane gas, among other things, which is used as an energy source within the university building. The gas produced drives a stove, a hot water boiler and a fuel cell to generate electricity. According to the inventor, Professor Cho, every adult person produces around 500 grams of excretions per day, which can be converted into 49 liters of methane gas. Half a kilowatt hour of electricity could be generated from this amount of gas. That would be enough to charge a smartphone for an hour every day for a month or an electric car for 2.5 kilometers (average consumption 20kWh per 100km).
Urine can also be used
Researchers from Bristol, England, took a different approach, reported the Bavarian radio on its news page BR24. For 17 years now, Professor Ioannis Ieropolous and his team have been researching the use of sugar in urine as an energy source. In addition to 95 percent water, urine also consists of carbohydrates. In a microbial fuel cell, bacteria break down the carbohydrates into positively and negatively charged particles, protons and electrons. The urine fuel cell’s special membrane converts the excess electrons into electricity. The invention has already been successfully tested at a major music festival in England. There, 440 fuel cells were connected in a urinal and provided all the electricity for lighting the building. A person excretes an average of 200 milliliters of urine every time they go to the toilet. This amount can generate enough electricity to charge a cell phone. The English researchers want to make their technology accessible to developing countries and develop a system that costs no more than 600 euros. In this way, regions away from the power grid could be supplied with bioenergy.
If you want to produce your own green electricity now without wanting to use your own waste for it, take a look at our solar system purchase advice.
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