A solar-powered toilet won the grand prize in August at the Reinvent the Toilet Fair in Seattle. Eight teams competed in the event, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The grand prize of $100,000 went to a team from the California Institute of Technology for its solar-powered john that produces hydrogen and electricity.

Using energy from the human waste for both decomposition and recovering clean water earned second place for a toilet designed by a team from Loughborough University in the United Kingdom. A toilet that uses dehydration and smoldering to sanitize waste in 24 hours won third place for a group from the University of Toronto.

The winners will go on to pilot programs with a goal of having one of the products in use by 2014 or 2015. The Gates’ foundation has spent about $150 million over the last two years on improving sanitation across the world, according to a spokesperson.

“Four out of 10 people in the world don’t have a safe way to poop,” says the foundation on its Reinventing the Toilet website. The project seeks to find ways to provide 2.6 billion people who don’t have safe sanitation with a toilet that produces renewable resources like fertilizer, fresh water, and fuel rather than waste. Visit http://www.apr.org/post/bill-gates-crowns-toilet-innovators-foundations-sanitation-fair