Uppsala is known for its extensive Walpurgis Night celebrations. Researchers at SLU want to utilize this to collect 20,000 liters of urine.
Through yellow unisex urinals set up in Ekonomikumparken, urine from celebrating visitors will contribute to a cycle.
The aim is to reduce dependence on artificial fertilizers by converting the urine into fertilizer, something that was already done during last year's celebrations, where 11,000 liters were collected.
The urine we collected a year ago was used three weeks ago, on a field on Gotland where malting barley is grown, says Björn Vinnerås, professor of cycle technology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).
20,000 liters of urine will become fertilizer that can be used for 1.5 hectares of arable land.
This corresponds to approximately three football fields, which is not much from an agricultural perspective, but it's a start, says Vinnerås.
The urine is taken to SLU, where it is converted into a concentrate with 95 percent of the water removed, then a research company converts the concentrate into fertilizer.
In 2027, it will be possible to drink beer made from malting barley that has grown on land fertilized with urine from the Walpurgis Night celebrations in 2025.
