Four Nigerian Teenage Girls Develop a Urine-Powered Generator
Posted on Friday, November 9th, 2012 at 1:41 AMBy Adeola Adeyemo
The beauty of an innovation lies not only in its efficiency, but in its ability to create cheaper solutions to complex problems.
Four teenage girls, Duro-Aina Adebola (14), Akindele Abiola (14), Faleke Oluwatoyin (14) and Bello Eniola (15) have stunned the country with their invention of a urine powered generator at this year’s Maker Faire Africa, an event which shows off innovations, inventions, and initiatives that solve immediate challenges and problems, and then works to support and propagate them. The teenagers’ invention was one of the most remarkable exhibitions at the fair which took place from Monday 5th November to Tuesday 6th November in Lagos.
Remember how we sometimes make jokes when we experience fuel scarcity saying we wished we could use urine to power our generators? Well it might not be a joke anymore if these girls’ invention is given the support it needs.
Here’s how it works:
- Urine is put into an electrolytic cell, which cracks the urea into nitrogen, water, and hydrogen.
- The hydrogen goes into a water filter for purification, which then gets pushed into the gas cylinder.
- The gas cylinder pushes hydrogen into a cylinder of liquid borax, which is used to remove the moisture from the hydrogen gas.
- This purified hydrogen gas is pushed into the generator.
- 1 Liter of urine gives you 6 hours of electricity
Isn’t it wonderful to see such young minds thinking along these lines? Good stuff!
Photo/News Credit: Maker Faire Africa
Tags: Akindele Abiola, Bello Eniola, Duro-Aina Adebola, Faleke Oluwatoyin, Maker Faire Africa, urine powered generator
Wow..and to think they are only 14 years old…great stuff..
Wow…who could ever have thought of that?
Wonderful that Nigeria will produce this kind of talent but whether they will remain on a sinking ship remains debatable
Very good stuff…wish we would hear more of these stories
These girls need patents! Nigeria has so much potential, and the government needs to invest in education and research & development, amongst other things…
Good one girls! Private companies need to patent this idea and make something out of it. Problem is that we depend on the government to do everything.Unfortunately, they can do but so much!
A big congrats to them and guess what would happen they would get scholarships to study at Harvard after which grants would be given, cos my great country would take no further step!!!
LOL. Very Gross. But regardless, you girls are amazing and I hope this is just the bringing of a glorious part in Chemical Engineering/Chemistry.
I read chemistry for my undergraduate!!! :-p
Nice one. I hope they can be encouraged and sponsored so they can grow
Wow, theres hope for us all. Thumps up!!!!
simply brilliant!
Great, great stuff
http://sylviachima.blogspot.co.uk
This is amazing stuff. I’m proud of Nigerians. We are making progress!
Amazing! Unlocking the creative genius buried deep inside. That’s what happens when young people are steered in the right direction, given proper education, and empowered with the freedom to think, imagine, and create.
A Nigerian was one of the inventors of the computer
A Nigerian girl is the youngest pilot in the US
Nigerians are the most educated group in the US
A young Nigerian built a plane from scraps and abandoned cars
Another young Nigerian man also built a car from scraps
Aba boys can build/replicate anything verbatim
Now look at such a creative invention by these young girls
So much potentials and “raw materials” in Nigeria, yet this government does not see the gold mine they have right under their nose!
God bless you for your comment my dear. We have it all, and yet we STILL have nothing. Irony of life
wow great innovation
http://osezy.blogspot.com
Goodness, these ladies need to put in a patent/IP for this technology asap!!!! For real. Even the idea without the actual invention can be patented. Lots of companies worldwide will pay money to license that patent. Apple for example made a lot of money from their patents.
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Great job ladies, shining example to others. Future engineers in the making ( Mech E perhaps
So proud of the girls!!! Good Job
Any info on these girls school(s) or an adult representative to contact will be appreciated. Tx
They are students of Doregos Private Academy, Ipaja Lagos.
Amazing! Unlocking the creative genius buried deep inside. That’s what happens when young people are steered in the right direction, given proper education, and empowered with the freedom to think, imagine, and create. Think about a Grand Urine Depot (GUD) where you can take your urine and get a redeemable voucher you could use for buying groceries. Urine is about to become a hot commodity !!! LOL.
Wonderful
This is an opportunity for the government to encourage these young talents so thay they can achieve even greater breakthroughs in the near future. Thanks Bellanaija for the publicity!
‘m so touched and to think they are all 14 years,hard work pays .even if the Nigerian govt doesn’t see any potentials or good in them,theg reward is right in front of them.more grease to their elbows,they need all the encouragement they can get now.while most teenagers are busy “rolling” in with the whole peer pressure wahala,they are getting creative.very impressed!
Fantastic and Encouraging news… I hope they get all d right encouragement ad support to see this through…
wow!!!!
Fantastic, its refreshing to see inteligent young women doing great stuff
WOW WOW WOW..I’m super impressed
Do you support Lazio?
It’s impressive to see our young ones making productive use of what God has given to them. I only hope Nigeria grabs this and runs with it..I just hope. Or else what will happen is one foreign country will just grab these intellectual minds, develop them further and use them to invent and develop for them. Kudos to these girls!
congrats girls
REMARKABLE!!!! Kudos girls! I look forward to this idea being pursued to full commercialization
Bigg Fan
wow wow wow…great brains,great talents,great invention,jst pray dey get d support n encouragement dey nid
please anyone know what school these girls attend. I would like to enroll my child in whatever school helped foster these creative minds….God bless!!!
Doregos private academy ipaja lagos
Nice work girls,but
Dr. Gerardine Botte, Director of the
Electrochemical Engineering Research Library
(EERL) at Ohio University, developed did process as early as 2009. I adore your creativity and would advice that you file for a program in chemical engineering,believe I,you will invent greater things. Once again,more power toi your elbow
Wow! Confirmed! It’s girls n women dt will mainly shape Naija! So glad to hear goodnews which has become scarce lately. I had to forward d link to all my contacts. Am impressed! I will interview dem soon. Congrats Girls! All d best…
@tosin o, school’s name is Doregos Private Academy, Ipaja Lagos
I pray for †ЂIS miracle to be real
The girl’s did not creat it oh!!! They only demonstrated an already discovered process. Please check the website for more info and also the scientists that created the process. Hian!!! Before all of you are just jumping. The formula is online and the researchers and scientists have papers written on it already!
well, with a course in chemistry, i can understand how it works, breaking down of ammonia to release free hydrogen, buh never in my wildest dreams, did i think it could power a generator, kudos to the young girls and thier teachers, i think its high time our Nigerian schools can invest in research, since our government cant do that for us. i want to be involved in this project, imagine useless 1 litre of Urine can power a Generator for 6hrs, amazin
This is really fantastic! the girls should please patent this idea.
LIGHT UP NAIJA GROUP pls promote dis concept
This is so whao,this is what we are talking about,we needs our children,youths to be involved in such innovation things,keeping their hands ,minds and brains working genuinely,this is a gold mine we need to tap and invest in,Nigerian Government please listen.We need to invest more in inventions since the CRUDE OIL is causing so much wahala,stealing here and there.
God help this children and others achieve great heights and there inventions impact lives and generations POSITIVELY!!!!!!!!!! in Jesus name.God bless you GIRLS mightily ,So Proud of you
This is so amazing, crude oil was discovered by somepeople. God has so blessed this country and is revealing to us another hidden secrete that can solve the problems that is attached to petrolleum. Let us all open our inner eyes to see beyond and support this young talented inventors. They said great things comes in small packages.
The school’s contact Doregos Private Academy Ipaja Lagos 017741471 or 08052398433 ask for Mr O Lawal the jets coordinator email dpa@stbes.org http://www.stbes.org
Amazing idea. I am so so proud of you guys, its wonderful to hear great news like this in the midst of the crisis experienced in our country. You guys are great, and may GOD continue to bless and keep you guys, amen. I look forward to more invention from you guys, the sky is your beginning. Lots of love
This idea was already discovered before these girls creation. Thus, they cannot patent what they did not discover…. Please be informed.
If only more students would allow themselves the creativity of putting some of the theories they read in books into practice. Kudos to the young ladies!!!
http://ajiristyle.blogspot.com/
I want oooooo. Where can i get this already. Great job ladies, hope the government or an investor(s) will see this opportunity to help you do something great for this country. I only wish i could help.
I’m PROUD of you young ladies! Take that Boko Haram and all the muslim zealots who think educating girls is a waste of time, may God forgive you all for your ignorance! Now, I know one can sometimes smell the diesel when the generator is running…in this case, wahala dey o LOL
RESPECT TO YOU.
Awesome!! We need more female engineers world wide…this is a great start and from prev. comments…whether they created the concept or found the formulars online…bottom line is they are smart intelligent brilliant beautiful young girls who put their minds together to exhibit this great idea. U think say na everybody understand formulars and can actually mix chemicals to make things work, nope!! So yeah kudos to them…and I’m gonna watch out for the names of these young ladies…we’ll def be hearing more of them in d future…keep ur head up, remain focused and God’s got ur back dearies. One thing I’m wondering tho’…is the urine supply from one source or multiple sources? guess urine is urine abi #justathought
Great Initiative/Implementation! Is the Duro-Aina girl Pst. Duro-Aina of Conqueror’s Assembly daughter?
Wow! Great post Bella Naija. We are looking towards celebrating minds like this very soon.
http://sonigerian.com
damn!!! awesome!!! its tym 4 us to build it into packageable size so dt all i need to is fill my gen wt urine. which is abundant and free ofcoz
, abi naija govt wld wait first until white man come and grab it and den start selling it for us again. and watch out chinese ppl r evrywere all den need is google translate dz page, and they r in buisness!! NAIJA GOVT SHINE UR OKPOLLO EYES AND ACT FAST!!
u guyz r awesum nd pls b focus dt lose concerntration 4 a moment.even if it has been invented at least dis young gals brought it to light just hope d govt can help in doin sumtin abt it to help d people of nigeria nd we wil nt need petrol dat much
Multinational don’t like competitors, Nigerian government should protect those kids before they get hurt, those who knows,whats going on would know,what am talking about.
Mmmm, girls, you got yours before me, anyway no problem, mine is on a perpetual cure for cancer and aids…………………………………………….NEW INVENTIONS LOADING
This is wonderful. I love that. I pray God to touch the heart of the government and good people of Nigeria to support these young ladies to do more.
Great job girls……but most kudos 2 your teacher,,,… He/She must really av tried…
aside patent, government should pls support them.
this is a wonderful invention i know,i guess i will tell ma father to sponsor ya all
wow!,bravo!,you girls have really tried,great Nigerians,where are Nigerian boys?,am waiting for Ur invention.