This article comes from Greenmuze and was written by Trevor Williams, who is a member of the Greenmuze staff. He was able to base this article off of an article from FastCompany. The photos come from iStockphotos and UNESCOSat. UNESCOSat is the program within the United Nations that is attempting to launch satellites that are powered by human feces. The satellites hope to be launched by 2011. The idea roots from Shewanella bacteria digesting human waste and liberating hydrogen that can be passed through a fuel cell with oxygen, creating energy through an electric current. It also creates water as a by-product. This a very confusing and complicated idea that is difficult to understand, however, it is supposedly effective. Human waste is always a concern while people are in space because people are always concerned about where to dispose of it. Because of this, the idea arose to use the excrement for fuel and energy uses. The idea will cost roughly $5 million to experiment with, and is part of an educational program with the United Nations. They will study this under space radiation, so they can discover the potential effects of radiation on the bacteria used for energy. The program is estimated to be operational for five years. The one issue concerning scientists experimenting with the feces is that the bacteria could potentially mutate to being harmful, rather than helpful. This is a very interesting and innovative environmentally-friendly idea that relates to the idea of environmental science, and it's attempt to gather as many green ideas that could have a positive impact on the future generations.
This article comes from Greenmuze and was written by Trevor 