Scientists are in a continuous attempt to use the waste matters to produce power from it, which can replace the non-renewable natural resources such as petrol, diesel, and so on. They have tried all the waste matters including human urine and fecal matters. The attempts are still on as they have succeeded in bringing out few very useful concepts of using human fecal matters in driving various vehicles.
Let us discuss few of the poop powered innovations that would help us save the natural resources so that we do not run out of those completely in future.
Three-Wheeled Motorcycle
The rigorous attempts by the Japanese toilet company, Toto Ltd has resulted in a three-wheeled motorcycle named Toilet Bike Neo. The bike has been recently launched for a test ride all around the country. The concept of this three-wheeled motorcycle is based on the concept of bio gas fuel to move the vehicle. Toto claims that the fuel is a combination of fertilized, purified livestock waste and gray-water. Though the vehicle does not have a commode attached to it, it is designed to intake the excrement soup provided by the livestock of Shikai-oi Township in Hokkaido. It has been tested that a tank of excrement can help the vehicle run up to 180 miles.
Car
The British sewage treatment company Wessex Water has recently launched a car that runs on the human fecal matters. The car is a Volkswagen Beetle and it runs on the concept of methane biogas generated from fermented human waste. According to sources, this vehicle can travel 10,000 miles annually on waste collected from 70 households.
Robot
The collaborative efforts of the scientists at Wessex Water and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory have succeeded in making a robot work using the Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC) that uses human excreta to produce electrical power. It is believed by the scientists that there would be a dynamic change in sewage treatment processes if this research succeeds.
Zoo Cart
This Zoo Cart is used in the Denver Zoo. This cart works on the power produced by the animal excreta. This vehicle depends on gasified pellets made from the animal excreta and the waste collected from the zoo. The working concept of this vehicle depends on a heater placed on the back of the prototype of the vehicle that turns the pellets into syngas, which is used to generate electricity to power the vehicle.
Fuel Cells
The Bioengineers at Oregon State University (OSU) have succeeded in developing a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) that can produce ample amount of electricity by using waste water. The working concept of the MFC is same as a normal fuel cell except the difference of waste water as the input instead of hydrogen and ethanol.
