Urine based mixture can absorb greenhouse gases: scientist

Human urine can be used to reduce pollution by absorbing greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, a Spanish researcher has said.

Researcher Manuel Jimenez Aguilar of the Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training of the Regional Government of Andalusia observed that absorbing large quantities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases present in cities would require millions of tonnes of some naturally occurring substance.

The ocean, the ground, rocks and trees act as carbon drains but are far from places where greenhouses gases are concentrated, so urine can be used as a reactive.

"For every molecule of urea in urine, one mole (a chemical unit used to measure the quantity of a substance) of ammonium bicarbonate is produced along with one mole of ammonia, which could be used to absorb one mole of atmospheric CO2," Aguilar said.

To avoid the urine from decomposing, the researcher suggested the possibility of including a small proportion of olive waste water (a black, foul-smelling liquid obtained from spinning the ground olive paste). This acts as a preservative, Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology said in a statement.

The result is that the urine mixed with a small percentage of olive waste water can absorb various grammes of CO2 per litre in a stable manner and over more than six months.

"CO2 emissions could be reduced by 1 per cent," Aguilar said.

The fluid created can be inserted into domestic and industrial chimneys (reconverted into containers to accumulate the urine-olive waste water mixture) so that the greenhouse gas passes through the liquid, increasing the pressure exerted on the CO2 and thus increasing its absorption capacity.

"If urine and faeces are recycled there and then, as much as 20 litres of water per person per day could be saved and this would reduce waste water treatment costs," Aguilar said.

The study was published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. sity shook India's northeast Sunday afternoon. There