Hydrogen from urine the new path...

[IronHead]

Not quite as simple as just pissing in an electrolyser though is it? Some thought and consideration has to be given to this - the first being that most home built electrolysers are common duct for hydrogen and oxygen, so-called HHO.

The chemistry is important as I don't believe we would be getting oxygen from urine. Rather we would be getting hydrogen and other unwanted, probably unpleasant gases which we would need to do something with (preferably not breathe). Furthermore, unlike an electrolyte in water that does not get used up, I believe we would soon be left with just water as the urea would actually get used up.

It will therefore be more complicated an electrolyser design than what most of us already have, plus there is the consideration of any toxic gases that may be evolved. So pissing in an open duct electrolyser and 'just doing it' might not be such a good idea until we know what else apart from H2 is evolved, and what the implications are.

That said, the efficiency of obtaining hydrogen this way would appear to be over 3 times that of standard electrolysis, which can't be a bad thing as long as we're not going to be poisoning the air we breathe.

EDIT
Nevermind

[Digjam]

Seems it's hit some more news

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31805166//ns/technology_and_science-innovation&wid=18298287


so maybe this is really real

[Cloxxki]

So a refrigirator sized unit "produces" 1kW, and a vehicle can run on [the technology] 90mpg.

That's a big of a big leap for my simple self. I'd be more interested to learn if the vehicle would carry urina as fuel, or would tank the product of the electrolysis, like a hydrogen fuel cell.
If the power in really is smaller by a significant amount that what a combustion engine would squueze out (at curent engine efficiency, I think it will be tight), the positive DIFFERENCE in power would be what our cars would run on, H from urine, on demand. I may over-simplify or invert it, but I think it's important to at least try and say things the way they are.

[IronHead]

Yes this is very real, done by very real laboratory's

There is no oxygen in this so it can be compressed. This is Nitrogen and Hydrogen , everything else is left in solution.
The media will get abit carried away in assuming how this tech is used, Starting with the piss in your gas tank jokes.

BTW  you dont need nickel plates. Most laboratory's stay away from stainless only because of the chromium content   

[Farrah Day]

Quote from RR

Urine would have to be separated from other human waste, which we don't normally do, so this seems a bit unpractical

No we certainly don't, and I certainly wouldn't but - and excuse my unlady-like language - we're only talking about pissing in an electrolyser... not shitting in it!