South Korean toilet turns waste into energy, pays users

ULSAN, South Korea — Researchers in South Korea have developed a toilet they say turns human waste into energy.

It works like this: A person uses the toilet, then vacuum suction whisks waste away to a microbial reactor. The micro-organisms digest it and release bio-gas that can be used as fuel.

The process also releases carbon dioxide, which can help grow green algae that can be refined into bio-diesel.

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The toilets only use about a pint of water per flush. They are being installed at South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology.

Toilet users get tokens that are accepted at shops on campus as payment for the energy they have produced.

CNN