This is the mobile version................
Posted on 07/21/2011 1:00:43 PM PDT by Red Badger
Bill Gates has given Dutch researchers the task of creating a toilet that works without links to water, sewage or power networks.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded Delft University of Technology a grant to develop a way of using microwaves to process human waste and create electricity.
The researchers hope the new toilet could be produced at an affordable cost for people in developing countries with limited access to reliable infrastructure.
Waste will be dried and then gasified using plasma created by microwaves. The resulting syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, will be fed into a solid oxide fuel-cell stack to generate electricity.
Delft’s Georgios Stefanidis, assistant professor of process intensification, said the process would generate enough power to become self-sufficient.
‘Part of the electricity produced will be used to activate plasma gasification, while heat recovered from the syngas stream and from the fuel-cell exhaust gas will be used for waste drying.
‘Preliminary calculations show that microwave plasma gasification may be energy self-sufficient, provided that the efficient transformation and high throughput of human waste matter can be obtained. It is also affordable.’
The foundation announced the grant yesterday at the AfricaSan conference in Rwanda as part of more than $40m in investments in its new water, sanitation and hygiene strategy.
‘To address the needs of the 2.6 billion people who don’t have access to safe sanitation, we not only must reinvent the toilet, we also must find safe, affordable and sustainable ways to capture, treat and recycle human waste,’ said Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the foundation’s Global Development Program.
Delft’s Prof Andrzej Stankiewicz said: ‘The current project presents an excellent example of how modern chemical engineering science serves not only the chemical process industries but also helps in resolving some crucial societal issues in the world.’
Ping.............
It’s called an outhouse.
But, of course, they have access to microwave and a place to plug it in.
Since it's from Microsoft, it will eventually lock up and have to be re-installed.
This is the mobile version................
They've installed similar systems in parks....but they're in well sealed buildings....and yeh...you're gonna gag...
I was expecting some foot pedals for processing.
"Can I have 10 million dollars now?"
I’m all for advancemnets, Mr. Gates, but why reinvent the “turd-burner”?
This is the problem with liberal elites.
They think you can invent things on demand.
Instead of having a team of researched find and evaluate potentially useful areas of research, they demand something they THINK would be so nice to have.
...develop a way of using microwaves to process human waste and create electricity.
Okay, so without a power source, what generates the microwaves?
Now THAT'S funny!
"Okay kids, if you want to be able to watch some TV tonight you better commence to eatin' and crappin' like you ain't never ate nor crapped before!"
Oh where to begin....will it interface with Windows 7 64 bit?
If something goes wrong with the microwave thingy will one find ones testicles roasted instead?
If the plasma thingy explodes the sygas thingy does the “user” experience the “BTOD” or blue toilet of death?
This is not a problem that Bill Gates can overcome.
Oh man, these jokes almost write themselves.
Cool! A toilet you have to stand up from and sit back down on to flush.
It gives new meaning to the Blue Swirl of Death!
“Oh man, I have to install Winflows(tm) Service Pack Number 2 in order to take a crap.”
It gives new meaning to the term, “You must be LOGGED on!”
Bill Gates already has a “toilet” Windows ME and Vista.
Sounds like a noble pursuit, and happily my tax dollars aren’t paying for it, but if the developing countries don’t have the plumbing infrastructure to support toilets, they probably won’t have the energy infrastructure to power a poop microwave.
It already exists. Grandpa had one out on the back...
Wouldn’t it be easier to put everyone in the world on a 1200 calorie a day intake to reduce volume?
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