Your cars may soon be powered by urine

New York, July 15 (ANI): Could it be possible to run your car on urine? Well, it may be, if Ohio University scientists are to be believed.

And their confidence stems from the fact that they have found a novel way to produce hydrogen energy from urine.

According to Discovery News, the scientists used a nickel-based electrode to make cheap hydrogen from urine.

When the research team led by professor Gerardine Botte stuck the electrode into a pool of urine, and applied an electrical current, hydrogen gas was released, which was used in fuel cells.

The prototype is about three inches by three inches, and is capable of generating 500 milliwatts of power.

The scientists hope to create commercial versions of the technology.

Botte expects that the fuel-cell urine-powered car could theoretically travel 90 miles per gallon.

"One cow can provide enough energy to supply hot water for 19 houses. Soldiers in the field could carry their own fuel," the New York Daily News quoted him as saying.

The researchers focussed their study on urea, a urine by-product.

"Urea is a byproduct of a lot of cities and farms, but even if you take all the people and all the animals, there's not enough to run the world," said University of Georgia professor John Stickney.

He added that though applications using urine won't be available to consumers for quite some time, it's definitely worth developing.

"We are going to have to put together a lot of greener ways to collect energy that don't produce greenhouse gases and don't require us to go to war," he added. (ANI)