ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Information boards powered by urine will keep visitors up to date with events at this year's Glastonbury Festival.

Liquid waste from some of the festival's toilets will be fed through microbial fuel cells to create sufficient "Pee Power" to light up 10 boards. The technology has been designed by scientists at the Bristol Bioenergy Centre at the University of the West of England.

Urine has been employed to power the lights and recharge mobile phones in some Glastonbury Festival urinals since 2015. However, the technology has moved on and this is the first time it will be used to power information boards as well.

"The festival updates are one way of showing that Pee Power and Microbial Fuel Cell technology can be developed for a whole range of uses," said Bristol Bioenergy Centre director Professor Ioannis Ieropoulos. "This unit is primarily about public engagement and Glastonbury Festival is giving us the chance to showcase our technology to potentially thousands of people."

The University of the West of England has agreed a five-year deal with the organisers of Glastonbury to allow them to showcase the technology. The creators claim it could transform the lives of people in less economically-developed countries where sanitation and electricity are off grid.

A 40-person urinal will be situated close to the Pyramid Stage and a second Pee Power unit will be located at the inter stage near the performers' area at Glastonbury. It is estimated that more than 1,000 litres of urine per day will flow through the microbial fuel cells of Pee Power at peak times.