Yup, that’s right – pee. As in urine. Out one tank, in to another.

Garardine Botte, a scientist from Ohio University, has developed a procedure that allows her to extract hydrogen from urine, which can then be used to provide power to hydrogen fuel cells, which then in turn, can power cars or similar equipment.

Botte also assures that her procedure uses less energy than that which is used to extract hydrogen from water, making the urine procedure even more practical than it is.

The procedure strips off the hydrogen atoms from urea, or (NH2)2CO, which is the main component in generic urine. Since hydrogen in urine is less strongly bound with the nitrogen in urea than it is with the oxygen in water (H2O), the procedure allows Botte to harvest twice the amount of hydrogen for a third of the energy with water.

“An electrolyzer built into a car would eliminate the need for a hydrogen storage tank, and with the right partnership, I believe we could have pee-powered cars capable of 60 miles per gallon on the road within a year,” said Botte.

via [Wired]