Students and faculty at the University of the West of England are being used as human Guinea pigs to test whether their urine can be converted into light.
Scientists at the university have joined with Oxfam to develop a urinal lit by electricity from human pee. Oxfam is looking into the model to use in refugee camps, where peeing in the dark can be dangerous, especially for women.
“In any poor community that doesn’t have electricity at night it would be a game-changer for them,” Oxfam’s head of Water and Sanitation, Andy Bastable, told Reuters.
The technology uses microbes which feed on urine for their own growth and part of that energy from their growth is converted into electricity.
The leader of the project, Ioannis Ieropoulos, told The Guardian the urinal costs about 900 dollars, but because it runs on a waste product, would be self-sustaining after it is built.
The urial was placed outside the university’s bar for maximum effect.
“We’re hoping to see some improved performances from people coming out of the bar after the consumption of certain beverages,” Ieropoulos told Reuters.
