By Jessie Balmert

jbalmert@gannett.com

An Ohio University professor's "pee power" project is a finalist in a competition to send technology to Mars.

The box created for the Mars One competition would convert 20 milliliters of urine carried from Earth into at least 16 milliliters of clean water and hydrogen and nitrogen as byproducts.

The GreenBox is the only project from Ohio or the Midwest to be selected.

Not many would jump at the chance to drink their own urine, but professor Gerardine Botte hopes her "pee power" technology will have astronauts on Mars doing just that.

Botte, director of Ohio University's Center for Electrochemical Engineering Research, said she realized that hydrogen and water could be extracted from urine while working on fuel-cell technology in 2002. The fuel-grade hydrogen can be used to power an iPod or a small electronic device.

"This is taking urine and making hydrogen and water simultaneously," Botte said.

Botte later created and trademarked the GreenBox, a metal box of tubes that converts urine into energy and water. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Defense purchased GreenBox for a wastewater treatment project.

Now, Botte's project is one of 10 selected as a finalist in a Mars One competition to send technology to the red planet; initially, 35 projects were submitted from universities across the globe. Mars One plans to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars by sending crews of four every two years, starting in 2024. An unmanned mission will be launched in 2018.

"Who wouldn't dream to contribute at least a tiny piece to the success to explore other planets?" Botte asked.

The box created for the Mars One competition would convert 20 milliliters of urine carried from Earth into at least 16 milliliters of clean water and hydrogen and nitrogen as byproducts. The hydrogen will be coupled with a fuel cell to recover about 53 percent of the energy.

That's important because both energy and water will be in short supply on Mars, Botte said.

The winner will be selected based on votes from the public collected from Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and the Mars One website. The deadline to vote is Dec. 31, and the winner will be announced Jan. 5.

The GreenBox is the only project from Ohio or the Midwest to be selected. Only five of the 10 projects came from the United States. If selected, Botte's box will be sent to Mars on the unmanned mission in 2018.

Botte said Ohioans should vote for her project because the state is known for aviation firsts. Ohio pioneered flight with the Wright brothers and sent numerous astronauts into space. Its license plates proclaim "Birthplace of Aviation."

"I would love if we, as the state of Ohio, are the one chosen to be in Mars One," Botte said.

Want to vote for #Pee2Power?

There are several ways to vote for the "pee power" project. The deadline for voting is Dec. 31.

•Like the Pee2Power project image on Facebook, www.facebook.com/MarsOneProject and share it with friends. Each like on the original image will count as a vote.

•On Google Plus, choose to +1 the Pee2Power project image. Each +1 will count as a vote.

•On Twitter, send a tweet with hashtags #Pee2Power and #marsone.

•Register as a Mars One community member at www.mars-one.com/donate and donate to the project. You also can purchase items at the Mars One shop. You will then get an email invitation to register with the online community and can cast your vote on Pee2Power's project page.