Just What We Needed Dept: A Pee Powered Battery
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 03. 1.07
Just what you need when you are out in the woods: Scientists in (we believe) Singapore "soaked a piece of paper in a solution of copper chloride and sandwiched it between strips of magnesium and copper. This sandwich was then laminated between two sheets of transparent plastic. When a drop of urine is added to the paper through a slit in the plastic, a chemical reaction takes place that produces electricity. The prototype battery produced about 1.5 volts, the same as a standard AA battery, and runs for about 90 minutes. Researchers said the power, voltage, and lifetime of the battery can be improved by adjusting the geometry and materials used. Urine contains many ions (electrically charged atoms), which allows the electricity-producing chemical reaction to take place in the urine battery."
Evidently it works with other precious bodily fluids as well. We await the video. ::Myninjaplease
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The next logical step: a pee powered car. Pile the family in, hook everyone up, and go. Oh, and cancel the old mantra of every parent, "Go before you go." Now, you'll load the kids up with as much kool aid as possible so that you'll be able to go.
Nick Kasoff
The Thug Report
Interestingly enough we did a sort of experiment using Magnesium and Copper...wow...energy dependant on how much water u drink.
I wonder if this same technology could be used to "treat" municipal waste and generate electricity for the communities that create it?
I think this is awesome. Incredible potential for something like this in the developing world, really. And just think - growing up a Nebraska farm boy and all - the old coffee can my Grandma had all us grandkids pee in while on road trips could have powered our whole town!
I wonder if this same technology could be used to "treat" municipal waste and generate electricity for the communities that create it?
If one drop can produce 90 minutes of AA power, I wonder how much electricity one could generate per day, enough to run a light and a computer? Urinals that give a penny per ounce of fluid? Have we been pissing away the clean energy solution? What about farms? I've heard of projects that turn animal waste into energy, but not in a catalytic way like this.
I understand that the pee is only the electrolyte / catalyst, so it's not going to be a case of continually peeing on the battery to keep it going. Once the reaction has taken place, peeing on the cell again will not “renew” its power.
I have some friends who built a continuously flowing version of one of these. Theirs barely made less power than it took to run the pump, but it made power.
Someday catalytic degradation of municipal effluent may generate power, but I suspect the efficiency would be higher with an anaerobic digester producing methane.
It would be great to develop it into standby battery for emergency kit. It would be light-weight, and much longer shell-life than primary battery. Also good for military use, and for remote location and for undeveloped countries. Also, probably less pollution.
VERY NICE! That is the best use of urine since the jelly fish sting discover!
Wow. This is better than attaching a micro-hydro turbine to my
Well, this is certainly an innovative solution. Carry more water with you when you go camping, to ensure you always have enough urine! Or, carry empty bottles with you to pee in so that you don't ever waste your energy source.
If this takes off and other uses are found for urine, we could live in a very strange world in the future! Imagine a world where we regularly “fill” the tank on our way to our destination on a road trip. Lol, what a strange idea.
Logically and scientifically possible because we all know that urine has a lot of minerals and ions which are needed to keep electric current going.
Magnesium and Copper served as the source of electrons being metals. Sodium Chloride is a solution through which ions may pass through. Urine is the source of more ions enough to generate a certain amount of electricity. Now there is a very significant usage for one of the products of excretion.