Recycling is definitely the buzzword for many, especially when we start to take more responsibility for leaving a green earth for the next generation. Well, there is money to be made in rubbish as Apple themselves recovered $40 million worth of gold from their recycling efforts. A teen from Canada, Austin Wang, picked up first prize at Intel ISEF 2016 for coming up with a method of transforming sewage into electricity, now how about that for brilliance?
Wang’s idea of working on a microbial fuel cell allows said fuel cell to convert organic waste into energy. This is part of Wang’s effort to reduce carbon emissions – through the improvement of the efficiency of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Just what are these MFCs, exactly? They happen to be bioelectrochemical systems which are able to convert chemical energy into electrical energy through the exploitation of the electron transferring capabilities of special microorganisms.
Wang has managed to single out specific genes in genetically enhanced E.coli bacteria, enabling them to be rather efficient power generators along the way. He shared, “I am working with a device that uses bacteria to break down waste and generate electricity.” His system is capable of producing far more power compared to current MFC processes, and its cost is competitive to solar energy. Does this mean our sewage could power entire cities in the near future? Not likely, but it will certainly do its bit in lowering the overall running cost of the city in the long run, and more importantly, to have a cleaner environment along the way. [Press Release]