Oh, this? Just some teenage girls from Africa who invented a urine-powered generator.
How's this for an innovative startup: four African girls — the eldest of which is just fifteen years old — have worked together to invent a generator that's powered by urine. The group presented their creation at this year's Maker Faire Africa, and it's so freaking brilliant it makes me want travel back in time and punch 15-year-old me right in the solar plexus.The Next Web lays out 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.
Story found on FB page for io9.
I love reading stories like this. We have so many amazing minds that could be put to the task here in this country to begin thinking creatively and solve our energy and climate change issues.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Stephanie - the human potential for creating this sort of thing really needs to be tapped, encouraged and supported.
DeleteI love these girls. I love that they came up with this. They are going to be as famous as Edison, in my opinion. Because it's brilliant. (And there's never going to be a shortage of urine, let's face it.)
ReplyDeleteAlso, off topic, but I took some pictures today that I specifically took because I knew you would love them. :) At some point, they will be a blog post and I'll give you a heads up.
I just hope that they do not get ripped off by some patriarchal pond scum that tries to hijack their invention. P*ss on him and then save the rest for the generator!
DeleteLooking forward to seeing the pictures! I know that I'll love them. You must be in quite a state with only a couple of days before the journey across country. Hoping you'll find some peaceful place within so that you remember to breathe! Sleep and dream well this evening!
PS: LOL on traveling back in time to your 15 year old self. The only person I'd punch in the stomach back then is my father.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of us would do that - and maybe take out mothers to task for being so enmeshed in the system. OK - I'll cut some slack to them on philosophical grounds, but I am not sure I'll ever "get" the lack of instinct to protect one's offspring - which is why I detest all patriarchal "religions" that separate humans from the Earth.
DeleteA topic for another long discussion!