Electricity from human waste?

[DC09]

Human waste could be turned into a new renewable energy source, scientists believe.

Scientists have developed a device that generates electricity from human waste.

The Microbial Fuel Cell devised by American researchers at Pennsylvania State University uses bacteria to break down waste, liberating electrons in the process.

Normally the electrons would power respiratory reactions in the bacterial cells and be combined with oxygen molecules.

But the MFC wrestles the electrons away from the bacteria and uses them to power a circuit.

"There are extraordinary benefits if this technology can be made to work," Bruce Rittmann, an environmental engineer at Northwestern University in Illinois, told New Scientist magazine.

The device consists of a sealed can, 15 cm long, containing a special arrangement of electrodes.

Organic waste is pumped in and broken down by clusters of bacteria. By depriving the bacteria of oxygen, electrons are freed to set up a voltage between the electrodes.

Previous attempts to produce electricity in this way have only run on glucose solutions.

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