Will cars run on urine?

A photo from open sources Inhabitants of the planet Earth produce about 10.5 a billion liters of urine per day – this is enough to fill 4 200 Olympic pools. If many of us perceive urine as waste, then scientists see great potential in them and hope one day use human waste products as fuel for cars, as well as heat them with residential buildings and even whole cities. A group of scientists from Korea University plans use carbon atoms derived from human urine to low-cost electricity production. Researchers want to see in fuel cells carbon instead of expensive platinum, the newspaper writes Daily Mail. Fuel cells are a promising technology that involves converting chemical energy into electricity with the participation of hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen is used from the side anode, oxygen – from the cathode. Anode catalyst (most often, platinum) “knocks out” electrons from hydrogen atoms, leaving positively charged ions and free electrons. Membrane between with two electrodes, only ions pass, forcing electrons to go along an external circuit, generating an electric current. Industrial the development of technology is hindered by the high cost of the catalyst, used inside a fuel cell. But if you replace platinum carbon with similar properties, it is possible to achieve a reduction fuel cell costs, the researchers note. Competent the use of human waste products will also allow improve the environmental situation in the world. It is worth noting that urine can be used not only in fuel cells for cars, but also in rechargeable batteries for mobile devices. In it direction is actively invested by the Gates family.