Spotlight: Poo-Powered Robot Eats Wastewater, Then Goes to the Bathroom

EcoBot III is the result of a collaboration between scientists working with Wessex Water and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory in England.

Although the idea of using biomass to generate electricity is by no means a new one, what makes this robot so very special is the fact that it takes in organic waste, uses it to generate electricity, and then gets rid of it.

From this standpoint, the EcoBot III can be argued to have a high-tech digestive system.

Tree Hugger explains that, should such robots begin being manufactured on a large scale, cleaning up wastewater, while keeping electricity bills down at a minimum, would be a much easier thing to do.

As Dr. Julian Dennis from Wessex Water puts it, “It would eliminate the need for electricity and would mean that in the future, sewage treatment works could become self-sufficient - driving down operational costs and significantly reducing our carbon footprint.”