Using Pee to recharge your devices, can it be feasible

Scientists functioning at the University West of England (UWE) in Bristol, UK, have found out a way to recharge a cell phone with Human urine.

The company has been in a position to recharge a Samsung smart phone by putting the liquid through a surge of microbial fuel cells. With this method, enough power has been produced to send text messages, browse the Net and even make a brief telephone call.

According to the scientists responsible, the next stage is to fully power the phone with pee…Seemingly cleaning their hands straight afterwards.

Dr. Ioannis Ieropoulos has worked for a long time with microbial energy cells; he is thought to be a specialist in harnessing energy from strange sources. The potential purposes of his work are very interesting from an environmental point of view.

Dr. Ieropoulos said, “We are very excited as this is a world first, no-one has harnessed energy from pee to try this so it’s an interesting discovery. Using the final waste product as a source of energy to produce electrical power is nearly as eco as it takes.” Eco-friendly tech is, seemingly, the good doctor’s main area of curiosity.

The microbial cells work as the energy converter, they turn the natural matter straight into electrical energy, via the metabolism of live microbes. The electricity is the by-product of a microorganism’s natural life phase, meaning that as they ‘eat’ the urine, they produce power the energy that powers the mobile. Now that is what we call ‘pee as you go’.

Bathroom humour aside, the team have engineered a world first, as nothing as large as the mobile battery has ever been charged using this process before.

There is, at the present, no plans to market this tech on a huge scale, but perhaps someday we could be signing a ‘P’ mobile agreement, the trick, as they say, might be pissistance.

PS – I’m sorry about this one. The task and its implications are actually astounding. All credit to the UWE team. On the other hand, I constantly wanted to do one to those ‘And Finally’ type tales and now I finally get to. Please forgive me, one and all.

SOURCES:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/urine-could-charge-mobile-phones-152225132.html