This toilet was designed by two British students - Elliott Whiteley and Gareth Humphreys as their final year project whilst studying Product Design at The…
Could one day toilet flushes be turned into sustainable energy?
Researchers at Seoul National University and Korea Electronics Technology Institute have devised a way to harness the motion of water from raindrops and toilet flushing and turn it into renewable energy source.
By adapting transducer to harvest mechanical energy from the flow of water the research team led by Youn Sang Kim has found the way to convert the flow into electrical energy that would be able to power up appliances and devices.
The scientists demonstrated that a single drop of water generates enough electricity to power up an LED light bulb.
The study could lead to a sustainable system that would allow people to generate power from things they haven’t thought of:
- toilet flushing in a washroom
- running water down the sink
- rain falling in gutters
A detailed research documentation is available in the Energy & Environmental Science journal.
video courtesy of Chemistry World UK and PSFK Labs