Poo Power

Not that I want you to think that I'm unnaturally interested in matters of the WC today but I couldn't believe this when I read it. The Science Museum in London is apparently considering taking the human waste from its 14 toilet blocks and converting it into electricity.

The head of the museum, Jon Tucker has told reporters "With free admission it would be a great way for visitors to give something back to the museum and help keep the overheads down. We have almost 3 million visitors each year and have huge electricity bills."

The plan is to siphon off do-do, store it and then burn it as fuel in a mini-power station or transform it into juice using a microbial fuel cell.

And here's one of those facts that you can drop into polite conversation over dinner. The power produced from just 100,000 visitors could power power 500 light bulbs. Wow.

I am now going to work out how I can power my flat from my pet hamster's dropping. Frank, my boy you're a little man with a big job to do.