Urine: The Hydrogen Fuel of the Future?
Could this be what the future of fuel looks like?
Pee. What can’t it do? From its reputable use as a fertilizer to questionable use as a hangover cure, urine has way more uses than you might imagine (or even want to know in the first place). Seriously. Some people even claim drinking it makes you healthier. Sounds completely quack to me, but what do I know?
Actually. Scratch that. This I know: drinking your own pee is universally questionable behavior.
But in the realm of interesting uses for your own bodily fluids, using urine as a source of hydrogen to power the cars of the future is a serious undertaking and based on completely sound science.
- » See also: Copenhagen Opens First Hydrogen Fueling Station, Unveils Fleet of Fuel Cell Cars
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People have known for a long time that you can generate hydrogen easily by running a current through water to split it into its component parts — oxygen and hydrogen — using a process called electrolysis. The problem is that the amount of energy needed to split the water is relatively large and the materials required are very expensive (although last year some MIT scientists created a brand new cheap catalyst that they say changes all that).
Urine to the rescue. Now some researchers at Ohio University have found that urine makes a much better starting point for generating hydrogen than water. The hydrogen found in urine is bonded much more loosely than in water. So loose, in fact, that by using simple and cheap materials hydrogen can be generated from urine using 1/3 of the voltage needed to make hydrogen from water.
The researchers see a much wider application for this technology in wastewater treatment plants by generating hydrogen while treating the waste simultaneously.
The Ohio University researchers are not alone in their quest for “gold.” Last month we reported on an entry into the Automotive X-Prize that uses urine as its source of hydrogen. Dubbed “ZeroFuel,” the team’s concept seems very similar to the Ohio University researchers approach. Perhaps they should be working together?
Source: Royal Society of Chemistry
Image Credit: FaceMePLS’s Flickr Photostream. Used under a Creative Commons License.
Nick,
This is terrible!It brings up the spectre of Pee Slaves! Yes, I can see it now, thousands of people forced to drink gallons of green tea everyday and pee into large tanker trucks! Kidney and bladder enslavement!
It’s taking me a little time to digest this…
At first I thought that “urine” as anything.. used for anything would be sort of nasty, besides from better fertilizer.
But, urine a hangover cure? I might have to get one of my buddies to try that out! haha.
After reading how the hydrogen is weakly bonded and can be used for fuel… I’d be willing to take a pee in a catalyst to drive somewhere…
Beats paying these fluctuating gas prices… Especially as we enter deeper phases of peak oil!
Well now isn’t that something… a good excuse to drink more… more BEER.
I already have future scenarios going through my head of an empty hydrogen tank, a case of beer and a jimmy rigged electrolysis machine… sounds like a McGuyver episode.
Years back (maybe 40 or 50) that was all the Indian Prime Minister (Morarji Desai) drank - some religious reason I suppose.
I can imagine - refreshments being served at a state dinner!
Sounds great, but can someone explain this outdoor pee toilet to me. Is this something that being used commonly? It’s really something that I don’t want my 6 yr old daughter to be confronted with.
In Wold War I, urine was collected to make gun powder because of the nitrogen. Who knows, maybe by World War III we will be using it to fuel cars. Regarding using urine as a hangover cure, I tried that once and got a big slap in to the face. She called the police too.
Bob,
Looks like this photo was taken in the Netherlands…the signage at the background says “OTHEEK VISIE” which could be the Dutch mortgage company HYPOTHEEK VISIE…and yes, it is being used commonly in the Netherlands…I’ve seen some of that in the city of The Hague
OK, so let’s take this a bit further. Let’s suppose that we get vehicles that can run on urine. So, naturally, we all need to re-plumb our houses so that the urine is collected while the remaining waste continues on to the waste-water treatment facility. Also the local pub, restaurants, etc. all jump on the bandwagon collecting and selling the urine so that when we find the tank, and bladder, are both empty, we can pull in to the local fueling station and continue on our way.
Will non-human urine also be utilized? Given our thirst for oil, I suspect that we will end up consuming more urine than can be recovered just from humans. But for now, let’s assume human-only urine is “recycled” this way.
What a power shift we would see - Clearly China would supplant the OPEC nations as the #1 source for Urine. India likely would be a distant second. Saudi Arabia wouldn’t even be able to meet their own needs. The US would still be a net importer and would still be no where near energy independence.
On the bright side, we’d probably put an end to all the “Global Warming” talk and ozone depletion…
Throw in non-human urine and I can see the elephant population exploding as humans exploit their urine-generating capability!
Hey, That could be easy money for lower IQ people. Getting paid to pee. Brilliant! $50 per gallon sounds good.
From the looks of things they only can use, or want male urine… If you catch my drift…. LoL (:-o)
Why is it we have to do all the work and the girls don’t have to put their urine to good use? LoL….