My hope in the human race is a feeling more fleeting than spontaneous orgasm. It is violent and strong, it is quick and seldom repeated in succession.
Today, on the train into town, I chanced upon an article in the Metro regarding the use of urine as a source of energy. The facts are essentially this: An Ohio University team, led by one Gerardine Botte, have found that two compounds in urine could be a source of hydrogen. The process apparently involves placing a hydroelectrode in urine and sending an electrical current, which would produce hydrogen gas, a sufficient amount to power a hydrogen cell.
First of all, YES. Second of all, FUND IT. I hope I'm not alone in my enthusiasm for this discovery, but if I am, let me try and bring some of you with me.
To do so, I must preface with one thing: we piss and shit every day. Stop being squeamish, your car may one day run on your body's waste.
At present, a great deal of water is used to flush our waste away. Humanity's treatment of its waste has not evolved well over the years. A bucket, contents to be tossed out the window into the street, was once the accepted method. We've come a long way, but we've stalled lately. The Japanese seem to tinker with waste disposal to some degree, but they focus more on improving the comfort and enjoyment of the act, not making the most use of it. We've fallen behind and it's time to get ourselves moving again.
Possibilities? For a start, with enough research, human waste could one day be a partial, if not a total power source for a home. Methane gas could be extracted from fecal matter, hydrogen gas from urine, both used to generate electricity (or some other form of energy if we ever discover it). Think about that for a moment; the idea that your toilet would be where you power your house. Your water bill has already dropped. And now that our waste isn't getting flushed through a water supply, that water is free to supply other possibilities, like, getting it to people that need it (or, longer showers, i guess).
"Botte estimated that an office of 200-300 workers could produce two kilowatts of ... power daily." -Metro
The current estimate isn't much. With that, my dream is far from a reality, but it's a big start. Honda has created the Clarity, using tech that really needs more exploration. I'm far from intelligent on these matters, so the possibilities in our near future are not at all in my grasp. Despite that, I suddenly feel a slight twinge of hope from the idea that we have finally found a way to put our bodies waste to good use. It took us far too long, but we're on our way.
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