Future mobile phones may be powered by 'human poo'

A new study has revealed that future portable technology, such as mobiles, tablets and laptops, may use human poo for battery power as bacteria on human faeces could be used to create a kind of biological battery.

The study from the University of East Anglia (UEA) found that a natural process occurring within bacteria could help improve "bio batteries," the Mirror reported.

According to the study, both human and animal wastes contain bacteria, which breathe minerals of iron much like we breathe oxygen, and during this "breathing" process, an electrical charge is released from the cell, similar to the neutral wire in a household plug, and can then be harnessed.

Lead researcher Julea Butt said that these bacteria can generate electricity in the right environment, which is an exciting advance in their understanding of how some bacterial species move electrons from the inside to the outside of a cell and helps them understand their behaviour as robust electron transfer modules.

Butt said that they hope that understanding how this natural process works will inspire the design of bespoke proteins which will underpin microbial fuel cells for sustainable energy production.