---
title: "A Purple, Photosynthetic Bacteria Can Turn Your Poop Into Power"
description: "Spanish scientists just let some photosynthetic bacteria go to town on stool samples. They turned it into biofuel and filtered out any greenhouse gases."
date: "2018-11-13"
modified: "2018-11-13"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski.md"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/purple-photosynthetic-bacteria-poop-power"
categories:
  - "Bacteria"
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Medical"
  - "Pathogens"
tags:
  - "chemistry"
  - "energy"
  - "poop"
  - "the digest"
  - "waste management"
---

# A Purple, Photosynthetic Bacteria Can Turn Your Poop Into Power

![Spanish scientists just let some photosynthetic bacteria go to town on stool samples. They turned it into biofuel and filtered out any greenhouse gases.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/purple-photosynthetic-bacteria-poop-power.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Tag Hartman-Simkins/NIAID\</em\>*

## Sewage Power

The human body doesn't extract all the energy out of food, so our waste is a great untapped energy source. Now, thanks to purple photosynthetic bacteria, we can convert our poop into hydrogen and carbon energy sources.

In [research published Tuesday](<https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2018.00107/full>) in the journal *Frontiers in Energy Research,* a team of Spanish chemists figured out a way to hijack a bacterium’s ability to turn light into energy — and use it to break down waste into useful fuels.

## Modern Alchemy

When the scientists stimulated the bacteria with a weak electric current, it sucked up the hydrogen from some fecal matter. It also extracted the carbon, preventing any greenhouse gas emissions and raising the possibility that the carbon could be [used in various materials](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/bacteria-food-waste-biodegradable-plastic.md>) or other energy sources.

Though this particular study was merely designed to show that the process works, the researchers hope that this bioelectric process could be used to extract clean, usable fuel out of the wastewater treatment process instead of just wiping it all away. Currently, waste water treatment plants typically dry out and dump human waste while freely burning off any gases they emit.

## Regular Movements

Other scientists and startups have experimented with poop-to-power technologies.

But this is the first time that these purple bacteria have been set loose to do their dirty business, specifically tweaked to grab up as much carbon as they can. It brings new meaning to the concept of "clean energy."

**READ MORE:** [Purple bacteria 'batteries' turn sewage into clean energy](<https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181113080903.htm>) \[*ScienceDaily*\]

***More on waste management: Bill Gates Wants to Save Lives and Money With High-Tech Toilets***

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)

## More

- [30 Million Barrels of Oil per Year Could Be Created From the United States’ Sewage](<https://futurism.com/30-million-barrels-of-oil-per-year-could-be-created-from-the-united-states-sewage.md>)
- [Scientists Gene Hack Bacteria That Breaks Down Plastic Waste](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/bacteria-break-down-waste.md>)
- [Scientists Say They’ve Figured Out a Way to Turn Nuclear Waste Into a Powerful Fuel](<https://futurism.com/scientists-nuclear-waste-tritium-fuel.md>)
- [Companies Have Begun Using Our Waste to Power the World](<https://futurism.com/companies-have-begun-using-our-waste-to-power-the-world.md>)
- [These Bacteria Digest Food Waste Into Biodegradable Plastic](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/bacteria-food-waste-biodegradable-plastic.md>)
- [Scientists Discover Enzyme That Can Turn Air Into Electricity](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/enzyme-turn-air-into-electricity.md>)
- [This Genetically-Engineered Bacteria Can Inhale CO2 and Produce Energy](<https://futurism.com/this-new-bacteria-can-inhale-co2-and-produce-energy.md>)
- [Scientists Create Living Factories That Churn Out Hydrogen Fuel](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/living-factories-churn-hydrogen-fuel.md>)