BeeVi, an eco-friendly toilet that utilizes human excrement to create electricity to generate power, was invented by a professor at South Korea’s Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST). Professor Cho Jae-weon created the BeeVi toilet, which has a vacuum pump that transfers human waste into an underground tank. The waste is subsequently converted to methane by microorganisms in the tank, which serves as a source of energy. This energy is used to power a gas stove, a hot-water boiler, and a solid oxide fuel cell at UNIST.
The invention: The BeeVi toilet uses a vacuum pump that sends feces into an underground tank where microorganisms break down the waste and turn it into methane, according to Reuters.
- The gas produced by the system would later become an energy source for the building that could power a “gas stove, hot-water boiler and solid oxide fuel cell.”
- Cho explained that a person, on average, defecates around 500 grams a day. This amount can then be converted to 50 liters of methane gas, which could generate 0.5 kilowatts per hour of electricity or drive a vehicle for 1.2 kilometers (0.75 miles), according to Hypebeast.
Turning waste into money: Students who use the BeeVi toilet can receive 10 Ggool (honey in Korean) cryptocurrency per day.
- It can be used to purchase coffee, instant cup noodles, fruits and books on campus.
- “If we think out of the box, feces has precious value to make energy and manure,” Cho said. “I have put this value into ecological circulation.”
