Human Waste to Power Homes

Or: Every time you flush, the lights come on... 

The first-of-its-kind plant in the UK will convert human waste (sewage, that is) to biomethane that can be pumped back into homes.

The idea is not new. A hundred years ago, gas was collected from rotting sewage and used to light streetlamps. And researchers have been working over the past decade to perfect a microbial fuel cell, which makes electricity much like a hydrogen fuel cell, but it runs off wastewater. Sewage-eating bacteria drive a chemical process that generates current and, as a bonus, helps purify the water.

Stating the obvious, Caroline Ashton, a manager at the local utility company making it all happen in the UK, said: "Sewage treatment is a 24-hour process so there is an endless supply of biogas."