Relying entirely on human resources-urine for fuel and footsteps for pump-certainly has its advantage as the entire system is 100% self-sufficient. This technology could be also useful to develop a system that can convey a person’s location in an emergency and chaotic situation.
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The scientific paper, “Self-sufficient Wireless Transmitter Powered by Foot-pumped Urine Operating Wearable MFC” is published in Bioinspiration and Biomimetics. They come with soft silicon tube lining that is connected to tiny microbial fuel cells located near the ankle area.
The technology involved is called microbial fuel technology (MFC), according to the Science Recorder, and the electricity generated can potentially power a variety of wearable electronic devices. Walking around mechanically pumps urine from a 640 mL bladder through the silicon tubes and into the MFCs where bacterial colonies convert the liquid nutrients into an electrical charge. Urine is pumped across the fuel cells by the walking motion of the wearer. Researcher Ioannis Ieropoulos says that wearable, biological fuel cells won’t necessarily require users to get their hands dirty: “We envisage gear or clothing that already has or could have excretion incorporated, without people having to worry about collecting or handling their urine”.
The manual pumping system in this experiment was based on the circulatory system of a simple fish. The study team used the energy that those socks produced to power a wireless transmitter. “This technology can use any form of organic waste and turn it into useful energy without relying on fossil fuels, making this a valuable green technology”.
This new technology has the ultimate chance of creating significant implications in powering portable and wearable electronics by using waste. The system would also indicate that person is still alive as the system would work only if operator’s fresh urine fuels the MFCs. But it required electric pump to continually feed the microbes, hence limiting the use.
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The Bristol BioEnergy Centre recently launched a prototype urinal together with Oxfam that uses pee-power (or wee-power) technology to light cubicles in refugee camps. It is a collaborative partnership between the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) and the University of Bristol, and home to a vibrant community of over 150 academics, researchers and industry practitioners.
