Someday, your liquid smelly gold, aka pee, may be able to power your home.
According to the Guardian, Ohio University’s bimolecular engineer, Gerardine Botte, can pull hydrogen power out of pee due to the new technology that she has developed.
Botte’s new technology requires adding an electrode to wastewater with a dash of electricity and the ammonia and urea in the urine will produce hydrogen.
The process is quite similar to water electrolysis, except it takes much less energy for the urine to create hydrogen.
The main, and almost obvious, limitation is that much pee is needed. So Botte’s technology would work best in public places with many bathroom users, like stadiums, airports, office buildings, or even animal feedlots.
But quite possibly the best candidate of all places is cities.
Botte is the chief of technology officer at E3 Technologies, where they are aiming to promote “pee power” as a way to reduce cost at wastewater treatment facilities.
Could pee be the new gold?