The BeeVi toilet at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea can now use their poop to buy food and books.
It sounds like something out of Rick & Morty, but it’s very much real.
Cho Jae-weon, a professor of urban and environmental engineering at the aforementioned university, has invented a toilet, named the BeeVi toilet (a combination of the words ‘bee’ and ‘vision’) “that converts methane … into an energy source.”
“If we think out of the box, faeces has precious value to make energy and manure. I have put this value into ecological circulation,” explained Professor Cho.
When speaking to Reuters, Professor Cho stated that the “average person defecates about 500g a day”.
This is the equivalent to 50 litres of methane, which can be used to “generate 0.5kWh of electricity or be used to drive a car for … 1.2km”.
The logic behind the loo is simple. Once someone does a number two, a vacuum pump transports it “into an underground tank … there, microorganisms break down the waste to methane, which becomes a source of energy for the building, powering a gas stove, hot-water boiler and solid oxide fuel cell”.
Not only does it save on electricity, but since the toilet only uses a small amount of water alongside its pump, it also saves on water.
This is excellent.
Methane-producing waste is a problem, and all the gas infrastructure we have in place will become useless, as fossil fuels are phased out (along with the jobs of people who maintain them).
These should be built-in in every large building in every city centre.
— Mark Wallace (@MarkWal45145801) July 11, 2021
But what does this have to do with buying things? Well, Professor Cho has invented “a virtual currency called Ggool” (which translates into ‘honey’ in English).
One person (in this case, the students of the university) can earn 10 Ggool each day after using the toilet.
From this, students can spend the exclusive currency at an on-campus shop that supplies everything “from freshly brewed coffee to instant cup noodles, fruits and books”.
All they need to do is simply scan a QR code.
Let me get this straight…There’s a toilet…In South Korea…That generates power…from poop. WHAT?! WHERE DO I SIGN UP?!
— Bucket God Vtuber | Tsuyu Natsuni 18+ (@Velociweaver) July 11, 2021
It’s a move that students have readily welcomed.
When speaking with Reuters about the innovative approach to pooping, postgraduate student, Heo Hui-jin, had this to say: “I had only ever thought that faeces are dirty, but now it is a treasure of great value to me.”
