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Urine to be used as power source for robots | Think twice before you use the flush after a pee, for according to researchers at the Bristol Robotics Lab,
urine could actually be used as an alternative power source for future robots.
The project is a follow-up to another self-sustaining robot, the EcoBot- III ,
which ingests biomass for energy, and poop it out when it's done. It is believed
that instead of excreting the urine, it could recycle it to power a microbial
fuel cell ( MFC ). This kind of fuel cell uses bacterial cultures to break down
'food' to create power. Dr. Ioannis Ieropoulo, one of the researchers working
on this project, explains in a press release that "Urine is chemically very active,
rich in nitrogen and has compounds such as urea, chloride, potassium and bilirubin,
which make it very good for the microbial fuel cells. We have already done preliminary
tests which show it being a waste material that is very effective. Although it
is early days for this research, we hope to work towards producing a prototype
portable urinal which would use urine to create power from fuel cells. We envisage
that this could be used for example at music festivals and other outdoor events,”
Discovery News quoted him as saying. Ieropoulo will use this concept to develop
stacks of MFCs that can deliver the energy efficiently. Alternative energy sources
like urine have only become more popular as we have learned more about the dangers
of continuing to rely on fossil fuels for energy. Algae could replace gasoline
in our cars, and antimatter could soon fuel our spaceships, to name just a couple
examples. This development could also help conserve water, on top of saving energy.
The researchers have been working with a company that builds waterless urinals
to find a way to divert that urine somewhere more useful than a treatment plant. |
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