LEARN in Living, Innovation and Energy

November 9, 2012 at 3:00 AM

In the past week or so since Hurricane Sandy devastated a large portion of the East Coast, we’ve seen people get creative about ways to harness power. From sharing outlets on the street, to using bikes as generators, people have come up with innovative ways to charge their cell phones and other items necessary for everyday life. While these ideas were resourceful, none of them are nearly as outside-the-box as what four African teenage girls came up with: a pee-powered generator.

During the Maker Faire Africa, in Lagos, Nigeria on November 5 and 6, 14-year-olds Duro-Aina Adebola, Akindele Abiola, Faleke Oluwatoyin, and 15-year-old Bello Eniola presented their unique proposal. According to The Next Web, here’s how it works:

• Urine is put into an electrolytic cell, which cracks the urea into nitrogen, water, and hydrogen.
• The hydrogen goes into a water filter for purification, which then gets pushed into the gas cylinder.
• The gas cylinder pushes hydrogen into a cylinder of liquid borax, which is used to remove the moisture from the hydrogen gas.
• This purified hydrogen gas is pushed into the generator.
• 1 Liter of urine gives you 6 hours of electricity.

Six hours of electricity for a couple quick trips to the bathroom sounds like innovation to me. What are your ideas for alternative power?

Photo via (cc) Flickr user White African