A stinky potential: the innovation and the faeces

This post is not exactly about food, but indeed what was food. Yes, it is about faeces. It might not be attractive at first sight, but believe me, the potential is so high that some call it liquid gold!

NASA is studying the possibility of making the astronauts somehow “eat” their faeces. This would not only solve the problem of the accumulation of residues along the trip, but also decrease the amount of food needed in the mission. But as you can imagine, the idea is not to scrape the pot, of course. In conjunction with Clemson University in the United States, in a 3-year project and $ 600k, researchers will explore alternatives to the problem. One of the projects provides for the use of microorganisms to make the transformation. If you think about eating pizza or lettuce in space, maybe the dessert you already know what will be…

Faeces can also be transformed in water. Bill Gates proved and approved the water resulting from the OmniProcessor, sustainable treatment and sanitation system accessible to developing countries. The “magic” happens because only 20% of the faeces is comprised of biomass, the rest is líquid, so the machine generates energy and water from waste in just 5 minutes. The dirt is all boiled, the solid part goes to a furnace and the energy generated feeds the machine itself. Vapor is treated in the faucet as pure water.

Do you think this is something from a mad scientist? So you should know that there is already an OmniProcessor unit working at full steam in Dakar, Senegal. The processor generates, in addition to water and energy, a material that is used in the manufacture of blocks for construction. Watch the video below to understand the complete process.

A study found that the waste from a million of Americans can hold up to 13 million dollars in gold and precious metals. They still need to find a way to extract the metals, reducing the mining activity and decreasing also the release of metals in the environment. So do you want to enter the golden race?

References: Digital Trends, Tecmundo, G1, How Stuff Works