Urine—Waste or Resource? The Economic and Social Aspects

The diminishing fossil fuel resources as well as the alarming state of the planet's climate are sensitising the world community for a better, global environment. The need for new, universal and carbon-neutral renewable fuel is pushing the number of research fields into finding alternative fuel sources or exploring new technologies. The Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) represents one of the most promising opportunities where the direct extraction of electricity from a variety of organic waste products comes with the added benefit of cleaner waste. MFCs have the potential to reinvent energy production from organic waste and detritus sediments that are abundant and widely available around the planet. More recently, urine has been added to the list of fuel sources that MFCs can directly utilise for the production of renewable energy, which is a process that can also result in the recycling of elements, such as nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, naturally found in urine.