British Scientists Develop World-First Way Of Wee-Charging Phones Using Urine

Researchers at the Universities of West England and Bristol’s shared Robotics Laboratory have made the best possible use of anyone and everyone’s time by developing a way to charge mobile phones using your pee. 
Published in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s tautological Journal of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, “Waste to Real Energy: the first MFC powered mobile phone” documents the world-first weecharging initiative in extraordinary detail. Put simply, it uses “the ultimate waste product as a source of power to produce electricity” through energy converting Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) which metabolise live microorganisms which “eat urine” and are then able to produce enough electricity to charge a Samsung mobile phone.
UWE Bristol’s Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos states that “So far the microbial fuel power stack that we have developed generates enough power to enable SMS messaging, web browsing and to make a brief phone call. Making a call on a mobile phone takes up the most energy but we will get to the place where we can charge a battery for longer periods. The concept has been tested and it works – it’s now for us to develop and refine the process so that we can develop MFCs to fully charge a battery.”

Scientists now envisage a future in which the the technology will be installed into domestic bathrooms to harvest and harness urine, producing enough self-sufficient electricity to power showers, lights and other small electronic devices, as well as your smart phones. 

Dr Ieropoulos concludes hopefully, “Watch this space.”

Photo: Oli Scarff via Getty

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