"US researchers have developed an efficient way of producing hydrogen from urine - a feat that could not only fuel the cars of the future, but could also help clean up municipal wastewater...Gerardine Botte of Ohio University may now have found the answer, using an electrolytic approach to produce hydrogen from urine - the most abundant waste on Earth - at a fraction of the cost of producing hydrogen from water." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"Urine's major constituent is urea, which incorporates four hydrogen atoms per molecule - importantly, less tightly bonded than the hydrogen atoms in water molecules. Botte used electrolysis to break the molecule apart, developing an inexpensive new nickel-based electrode to selectively and efficiently oxidise the urea. To break the molecule down, a voltage of 0.37V needs to be applied across the cell - much less than the 1.23V needed to split water." - imabonehead

Pee FTW! - Ruchira S. Datta

So people will no longer pee on trees at the side of the road on long car trips. - DGentry

Rather than locking them up and leaving them filthy, gas stations will compete for your bathroom business. - DGentry

Wealthy Pee - Amir

Actually, I'm pretty sure water is the main ingredient in urine, but a cool idea anyway. - Clare Dibble

Water certainly is, but presumably there is enough urea to make it feasible. Electrolize the urea apart, let the water pass through. - DGentry

This is not really new. The Space Shuttle and the Space Station(http://science.nasa.gov/headlin...) have been doing this for awhile. - imabonehead

The space station filters urine to recover drinking water. So far as I know, it does not split the urea to get hydrogen. They would expend considerable electricity to do so, when they don't really need to. - DGentry

@DGentry, true. - imabonehead