Thabo Ramitsi has learnt that faeces have the ability to generate power.
Poo can light up the country
Young minds all over the world are making strides in the fields of science and technology, hoping to make the world a better place.
While other teens are playing video games, Thabo Ramatsi from Klipsruit is busy finding solutions to the country’s crisis.
Following the revelation of power utility, Eskom’s technical problems at its massively expensive new power stations and a fresh round of rotational load-shedding, Ramatsi has decided to come out with his brilliant innovation, introducing a smart and brilliant idea to this problem. Ramitsi has learnt that faeces have the ability to generate power.
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“I got the idea from the story my mom told be about, she told me about a woman who once fell into a pit toilet and died because of the heat from the pit toilet, that’s when I discovered that pit toilets have loads of power, and I wasn’t going to let it go just like that.
It was announced that the government will allocate R23bn a year in the next three years to help the power utility meet its financial obligations and I am introducing what I believe is a cheaper way to solve the power problem in the country,” said Ramatsi.
According to Science, human feces consists of organic matter which, with the help of abundant bacteria present in feces, is conveniently broken down through decomposition.
Decomposition of feces produces methane gas, and when stored, can be used as a heat source and possibly used to generate electricity through steam turbines. This happens in a form of biogas, Biogas is used for cooking and heating purposes.
Originally from Limpopo, Ramatsi said that he decided to put his theory to test 4 years ago at his home in Mookgophong since pit toilets are available there.
“I just caught poo fumes in a plastic bottle, closed it for a few seconds with my hand, then used my other hand to close with the lid and threw the bottle into a fire and guess what happened? After the little heat from the fire, the bottle popped before it caught fire,” Ramatsi said.
“I tried another one where I scraped nails with sandpaper and dipped them in methanol, attached the nails to a wire, then I inserted the wire inside a pit toilet were the poo was boiling, then attached that wire to a light bulb, then the heat heated up the wire and the light bulb lit up,” he added.
Ramatsi said that he saw the power problem South Africa is facing as a country and decided to find different ways of generating electricity. He said that this is not the only idea he has, there are many more smart and innovative ideas he is working.
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