If a team of scientists from Penn State University gets its way, someday we’ll all give a crap about energy conservation. Literally.

The team has unveiled an electric generator powered by – you guessed it – human effluent. The device, dubbed the "microbial fuel cell," offers the possibility of self-powered sewage treatment. This would be a boon for the developing world, where the expense of building and powering traditional waste treatment plants leaves billions to live in fear of cholera, dysentery, and other maladies that arise when humans live in close proximity to their own filth.

As Western environmentalists continue to argue against the development of new hydro- or nuclear power capacity (with little apparent regard for how this stance perpetuates human privation across large swaths of Africa, Asia, and Latin America), a waste treatment system that runs on its own power could make a real difference. The technology could even be a cost-saver for the US, which spends some $25 billion on sewage treatment each year.

From revolting to jolting

Like the batteries in your iPod or Gameboy, microbial fuels cells are powered by a chemical reaction. The Penn State version pumps waste through a cylinder-shaped device – a poop chute, if you will – which exposes the material to nine electrically charged elements running the length of the cylinder: eight negatively charged graphite rods (the fuel cell’s “anode,” or negative pole) arranged in a ring around a central, positively charged cathode tube.

Sewage is laden with bacteria and undigested organic matter (carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, etc.). When this slurry is pumped into the oxygen-free cylinder, enzymes in the bacteria begin to break down the waste, in the process and transferring electrons to the graphite anodes.  From there, the electrons flow though a wire toward the cathode tube. This action creates a voltage between the anodes and the cathode, and the resulting current can be used to power an external device (say, a pump that forces more waste water into the fuel cell).

But that’s not all. The process also cleans the water by removing up to 78 percent of the organic material as it generates electricity.

The current prototype is only the size of pop can, but the Penn State team believes the relatively simple system can be scaled up with ease. Potentially, the researchers say their microbial fuel cell technology could yield 51 kilowatts on sewage from 100,000 people. If the team can refine the anode to be more efficient, the cell’s yield will only increase.

Innovation over regulation

While the microbial fuel cell will likely require several years of refinement before going mainstream, the Penn State announcement highlights an important principle. Over time, seemingly insurmountable environmental problems can often be addressed by unleashing the power of human ingenuity. This contrasts with the regulatory approach, which by the very act of defining the problem tends to box reality into a legalistic straightjacket.

In other words, regulations are only as good as the knowledge that underpins them. And government agents cloistered in centralized bureaucracies are rarely in a position of perfect knowledge. That’s why central agencies are seldom renowned for their predictive powers, their ingenuity, or their grasp of human potential. In fact, when it comes to the environment, one could argue that governments tend to be overly cautious and gloomy in their assessments, and tend to base predictions on crude extensions of present trends into the future. This approach overlooks something important: the (inherently unpredictable) tendency of technological innovations (like the microbial fuel pump) to alter underlying conditions.

The genius of the Penn State device is that it addresses two problems – power generation and waste water treatment – at a stroke. In contrast to much environmental legislation, this is elegant human design at its best. Indeed, the human body uses similar chemical dynamics to transform food into energy.

Given Americans’ taste for super-size meals, Penn State’s microbial fuel cell could be the closest we’ll ever come to a perpetual motion machine.