While some engineers are busy perfecting
sexting apps, others have turned their
expertise to a decidedly less seductive,
but more important pursuit. They’re
trying to figure out what to do with all
our poo.
A team led by University of Colorado
professor Karl Linden has made a
prototype toilet capable for turning
feces into a charcoal-like substance
that can be used as fertilizer or fuel.
The toilet, called Sol-Char Toilet, uses a
combination of mirrors to concentrate
sunlight onto fiberoptic cables, which
heat and sterilize human waste to 600
degrees Fahrenheit and turn it into a
bio-product instead of just — well, crap.
“We are doing something that has never
been done before,” Linden said on the
school’s website. “While the idea of
concentrating solar energy is not new,
transmitting it flexibly to a customizable
location via fiber-optic cables is the
really unique aspect of this project.”
Here’s what the solar toilet looks like.
(See the video at the top to watch the
toilet heat up some poo.)
It might not sound especially glamorous,
but poop is one of the world’s biggest
problems. Every year, poor sanitation
contributes to the deaths of 1.5 million
children from diarrhea, according to
the Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation.
Sol-Char is funded as part of the
foundation’s Reinvent the Toilet
Challenge, which funds research to
“develop waterless, hygienic toilets that
do not require a sewer connection or
electricity and cost less than five cents
per user per day.”
“I think it’s hard to make sanitation as
sexy as a cell phone,” Linden told Vice.
“But by integrating into the community
and making it a hub, it can be something
more popular.”
The University of Colorado team plans to
debut the toilet at a Gates Foundation
event in New Delhi on Saturday.
sexting apps, others have turned their
expertise to a decidedly less seductive,
but more important pursuit. They’re
trying to figure out what to do with all
our poo.
A team led by University of Colorado
professor Karl Linden has made a
prototype toilet capable for turning
feces into a charcoal-like substance
that can be used as fertilizer or fuel.
The toilet, called Sol-Char Toilet, uses a
combination of mirrors to concentrate
sunlight onto fiberoptic cables, which
heat and sterilize human waste to 600
degrees Fahrenheit and turn it into a
bio-product instead of just — well, crap.
“We are doing something that has never
been done before,” Linden said on the
school’s website. “While the idea of
concentrating solar energy is not new,
transmitting it flexibly to a customizable
location via fiber-optic cables is the
really unique aspect of this project.”
Here’s what the solar toilet looks like.
(See the video at the top to watch the
toilet heat up some poo.)
It might not sound especially glamorous,
but poop is one of the world’s biggest
problems. Every year, poor sanitation
contributes to the deaths of 1.5 million
children from diarrhea, according to
the Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation.
Sol-Char is funded as part of the
foundation’s Reinvent the Toilet
Challenge, which funds research to
“develop waterless, hygienic toilets that
do not require a sewer connection or
electricity and cost less than five cents
per user per day.”
“I think it’s hard to make sanitation as
sexy as a cell phone,” Linden told Vice.
“But by integrating into the community
and making it a hub, it can be something
more popular.”
The University of Colorado team plans to
debut the toilet at a Gates Foundation
event in New Delhi on Saturday.
posted from Bloggeroid
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