We could potentially be flushing millions of dollars of green fuel down the toilet! A technology has been developed in Japan by professor Junichi Takahashi of Obihiro University in conjunction with the Sumitomo corporation that produces hydrogen from cow urine and cow feces. A technology that professor Takahashi says could be applied to human waste.
Approximately 22,000 US were spent by Dr. Takahashi and the Sumitomo group to build an apparatus that is about six feet by 3 feet that in essence ferments cow waste under oxygen-free conditions to extract ammonia which is electrolyzed. The result is hydrogen and nitrogen. The hydrogen is combined with oxygen to produce electricity.
This inexpensive and relatively portable device could be mass-produced and installed in every office and apartment building rendering their bathrooms a potential gold mine. The days of big city buildings and sprawling suburban complexes consuming massive amounts of fossil fuel to produce its energy could be over. In fact at that cost most moderate to upscale homes could also easily include such a fuel generator.
According to Dr. Takahashi 0.2 watt of electricity were able to be sourced from about 20 kilograms of cattle waste and while this may not seem like much Dr. Takahashi assures that improved efficiency could convert the equivalent of one days cattle waste from a Hokkaido farm into three days electricity for an average Japanese household.
Source:
http://blog.sustainablog.org/japanese-re...