Cynthia Lam, a high school student in Melbourne, Australia has created a portable device that purifies wastewater while generating electricity sustainably and affordably. Her device, which she calls a Portable Photocatalytic Electricity Generation and Water Purification Unit, or H2Pro for short, produces both clean energy and fresh water at the same time and is an entry in the Google Science Fair 2014.

There already existed a design for mobile hydrogen energy and water supply that, although feasible, needed an external solar power source to purify water and produce hydrogen through an electrolyzer, making it costlier and less efficient. This inspired Lam to create a self-sustainable portable device that can purify wastewater and produce electricity through only photocatalysis (without any additional electricity source).

Based on what Lam developed from investigating photocatalysis, she aimed to create a device that can put the mechanisms into practice. In photocatalysis, not only water is purified and sterilized, but hydrogen is also produced through water-splitting, which can be used to generate electricity.