At Last...Pee Power!

[chainsawjohn]

Give them time, and they'll harness 'fecal matter' to run our appliances!

Actually Methane Gas is used quite a lot for power these days, a huge supply can be found in cattle manure. Here's a bit of research I did just now:
Methane can be used for heating, lighting and as a motor fuel. Methane is relatively easy to make from bio-mass, "animal manure and many plants".
Methane is probably the easiest to produce of all the homemade fuels, but it's a messy and time-consuming process.
The technology needed to generate methane from livestock waste and other farm refuse has been known for about 100 years. But due to inexpensive and abundant petroleum energy, its use has been limited in the U.S. Today, however, high energy costs and low profit margins experienced in some livestock enterprises as well as recent digester improvements through research are causing many farmers to re-evaluate the feasibility of on-farm production of methane gas from livestock waste.

What I really wanted to mention though is Hydrogen. When I was about 10 years old, I took a small battery and ran wires from it's terminals into a glass of salt water and gazed in amazement at the little oxygen and hydrogen bubbles coming off of the ends of the wires in the water.  So why do cruise ships run on high-polluting diesel fuel when there is an endless supply of hydrogen and oxygen in the water they are sitting in, not to mention the salt required to conduct the current? This is the fuel that gets the space shuttles up, and the exhaust is distilled water, a perfect supply for the ship passengers to drink. Somebody ought to market this.

Want to run your diesel car on vegetable oil? Check this out! http://www.greasecar.com/

[cerina]

A couple of years ago my partner made a small hydrogen cell which he fitted into the air filter of my car (MY car, you notice, not his!!). A mix of hydrogen and air improves the efficiency of the engine and really did make a difference to my fuel consumption.

[Napper]

...................science...............................................

That's easy for you to say.  But can you fart the soliloque from "Hamlet" ??





I thought as much!!

[cerina]

I bet Lynniescot could  :roll:

[Khaizerex]

While I cannot from Hamlet, I can from Macbeth:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
to the last syllable of recorded time.
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools,
the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a mere player
that struts and frets upon the stage,
and then is heard no more. It is a tale,
told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing!

Let's see how well I did, I'll just search this on Google... and...

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
   - Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5, lines 22-31

from http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/features/2000/augustine1.html

Okay... seems like I was a little off, but close enough, given that I read the play two and a half years ago...

[Khaizerex]

And here's a note on the Hydrogen cell...

It actually takes quite a bit of energy to decompose the water into its componenets of hydrogen and oxygen. And when you burn it again to make water, you'll get some energy back. You'll have lost some energy in the process due to various smaller things that cannot be controled, such as the heat sink in the engine cannot be at 0 K--that's zero degrees kelvin, which correlates to negative two hundred and seventy three degrees celsius.

So anyway, it's fun to use a battery and watch the gases bubble off, its another thing to break water using energy, reforming the water, and trying to use that energy. The law of conservation of energy doesn't allow any extra energy output than you originally used to decompose the water. Besides, of course, if you take solar energy and use that to break the water apart. The problem with this is that you need quite a bit of solar energy, and so a relatively large solar panel to really be able to power a car engine.

I'm not looking any of this up, it's based solely on what I know about these things, which on the thought of engines, isn't very much. I'm only applying my chemistry and physics knowledge, so if someone sees errors, please point them out, as I'd like to know when I am wrong so I can correct the facts in my head.

[Michelicious]

All this techno talk is giving me a really, really big urge!  Hell, who needs Correctol!  :crap:  

[Dirtzinert]

Yeah, I'm gettin a sick headache.  Alll I wanted do was post something I thought was funny, not sign up for batteries 101...

[Khaizerex]

 :|

Sorry...

[Michelicious]

Don't forget the physics of 'manure 101'...

[Napper]

Y'know Dirtz, it's an interesting story, only one thing makes me wonder.

What would we want with a credit card sized battery when most watches are not much bigger than a postage stamp?



Give 'em time, I say. They'll reduce it to the size of a grain of rice...................

[Dirtzinert]

Duh!  You ever try to pee on a single grain of rice?  Guess you could make a bunch of batteries all at once...

And Khaizerex, not to worry, I was just pissing and moaning for something to do.