SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 05: A pedestrian uses a smartphone as he walks along Market Street on June 5, 2013 in San Francisco, California. According to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, over half of American adults, or 56 percent, have smartphones, up from 35 percent two years ago. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) (2013 Getty Images)
In desperate need to charge your cellphone? Then just add water.
Scientists in England have created a mobile phone that is powered by urine.
British researchers at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory have developed the method, claiming this is the first time a phone has been powered by the microbial fuel cells (MFC) found in pee.
“No one has harnessed power from urine so it’s an exciting discovery,” Dr. Loannis Leropoulos, an expert involved in the research, told the Daily Mail.
“One product that we can be sure of an unending supply is our own urine.”
While it may not be the most appealing idea, Leropoulos said, “Using the ultimate waste product as a source of power to produce electricity is about as eco as it gets.”
“The beauty of this fuel source is that we are not relying on the erratic nature of the wind or the sun; we are actually re-using waste to create energy.”
Along with charging up your mobile device, the researchers also believe the technology could be used in bathrooms in the future to power electric shavers and even showers.
But so far, the electricity output from these urine powered devices is relatively small.
The group, whose research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Gates Foundation and the Technology Strategy Board, shared their scientific breakthrough in the Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, a publication of the Royal Society of Chemistry Journal.
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