The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has set out to reinvent the toilet in a competition that will hopefully contribute to bringing modern sanitation to the 2.6 billion people in the world that are currently going without. Inventors and scientists from around the world have been submitting their ideas and announcement is expected from the foundation today to see which scientist will be chosen for additional funding to make their ideas a reality. From a toilet that uses microwave energy to turn waste into electricity to a toilet that turns waste into charcoal the ideas have been diverse but they all have the same criteria that must be met. The toilets must be able to operate without water, electricity or a septic system, must not release pollution and a preference will go to designs that capture energy or resources and operate for less than 5 cents a day.
