Scientist Invents a Toilet that Transforms Human Feces into Cryptocurrency
A researcher at a South Korean university, UNIST (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology), has developed a toilet that turns human feces into energy. As a bonus incentive, it provides a small amount of digital currency to be exchanged for a cup of noodles or coffee on campus.
How the “generator” that produces energy from human feces works
First, the feces is pumped from the toilet into an underground tank (using much less water than a traditional toilet). Arriving at the tank, a group of particular microorganisms breaks down the feces and turns them into methane, a usable energy source.
Dr. Cho Jae-Weon with one of the “digestors” developed for his invention.
In an interview with Reuters, inventor Cho Jae-weon said, “If you think outside the box, feces have a precious value for energy production.”
According to Cho, the toilet can process about a pound of human feces, the average amount of excrement produced daily. In 50 liters of methane gas. In short, this means that this toilet can generate half a kilowatt-hour of electricity, enough to drive an electric car more than a kilometer (or power other devices, of course).
Moreover, since we are in an era where nothing is protected against cryptocurrencies, Cho has invented another. A virtual currency he called Ggool (means “honey” in Korean, but I do not think Brin and Page would take that well). Each use of this unique bathroom earns you 10 Ggool a day, which you can use to buy things on the university campus.
“I always thought the stools were dirty,” says Heo Hui-Jin, a graduate student who is testing the use of Ggool. Yes, I also thought they were dirty. You look for someone who will think.
“But now they are a treasure of great value to me,” says the student. “I even talk about feces during meals to make friends in my bathroom so I can buy all the ebooks I want.”
This article is republished from Reuters under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
