Dutch scientists turn office urine into electricity, nutrients and potentially hydrogen

Pee breaks are one of the most relaxing times in the office when you finally get to have some sane moments to yourself. Which is why most employees take numerous such breaks within a day. But what if your normal pee break had you secretly contributing to the generation of electricity?Two hundred and sixty men walked into an office toilet in the north of the Netherlands and became a very small power station. Their contributions went down a dedicated urinal, out through a pipe and into a shipping container parked beside the building. Water board Friesland had asked its male staff to use that urinal, as reported by Dutch Water Sector.It fed a pilot rig for bio-electrochemical treatment, built by Wetsus, the water technology research centre in Leeuwarden. The rig pulled phosphate out of the stream, captured ammonia and generated electricity. Wetsus said the output was enough to run the water board's electric cars about 50km a day.How bacteria turn urine into currentBacteria make their living by breaking down organic matter, which means stripping electrons off it and handing them to something else, normally oxygen. Take the oxygen away, put a carbon electrode in front of them, and they ...