New electricity generator takes the pee

start-up-idea-maker-faireFour entrepreneurial Nigerian teenage girls have invented an electricity generator powered by urine.

 

The teens presented their invention at the Maker Faire Africa entrepreneurs event, in Lagos, southern Nigeria, earlier this month.

 

According to the Maker Faire blog, 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, with one litre of urine providing six hours of electricity.

 

The Maker Faire blog described the generator as “possibly one of the more unexpected products” at the event.

 

More than half of Nigeria’s 162 million citizens have no access to electricity, and even those who do can’t guarantee having power every day. How else might you assist third world countries such as Nigeria?

COMMENTS