Ravenwood - 05/23/06 06:15 AM
As if you need more evidence that the media are technologically ignorant, they're buying into the claim of a car that runs on water. (CNN video)
Burning hydrogen for fuel is nothing new. In high school chemistry this was called electrolysis of water. The major difference is that they claim to be able to produce hydrogen on demand and thus eliminate the danger of having to store it in large quantities.
While it may work for welding, the problem with this scenario is that you need huge amounts of electricity to produce enough hydrogen to power a motor vehicle. In carrying around all those batteries, you might as well drive an electric car and cut electrolysis out completely. And since it's impossible to get as much energy out as you put into it, you're still losing energy.
Category: Blaming the Media
Comments (8) top link me
Too bad basic science and math are not requirements for a journalist...
Posted by: BobG at May 23, 2006 11:19 AMhttp://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me3.html
Looks like a simple water-injection system to me.
Posted by: Dave thA at May 23, 2006 3:47 PMDave,
They aren't talking about injecting water into the carb, they're injecting hydrogen gas into the fuel mixture.
Basically they claim to have a special form of electrolysis that produces a special gas with magical qualities. Instead of producing normal H2 and O2 gas, they claim to produce HHO gas. (*bullshit*) They say that the HHO gas is able to increase your gas mileage, as well as supply enough electricity to be self sustaining. Unfortunately, the laws of physics say otherwise.
IMHO, it's a scam and the media is falling for it hook line and sinker.
Posted by: Ravenwood at May 23, 2006 6:45 PMHHO?
When you strip away all the specific details, this is nothing more than the quest for perpetual motion, a concept that a remarkable number of people still believe is possible (today we generally call them "environmentalists").
I heard some dude talking about this wonderful, water-burning car on the radio the other day. He started out sounding like a pretty reasonable and generally smart guy, but after 2 or 3 minutes he had devolved into some freaky, Area 51-type conspiracy nut-job.
Look, I willingly admit that throughout history there have been numerous actual conspiracies (like the Cleveland Indians losing Game 7 in 1997 - clearly the other owners, Fox News, and El Nino had something to do with that), but at least try to keep your pet conspiracies within the constraints of reasonably sound science.
Posted by: roger at May 24, 2006 9:29 AMLooks like a scam to me. But then again 30 years ago it was a scientific fact that stable magnetic levitation was not possible. Now for 30.00 at Spencers gifts you can buy a toy that does it. Thanks to Roy Harrigan....
Posted by: kemyst at May 24, 2006 12:02 PMI'm still hoping for the day someone finds a way to propel a vehicle on all the hot air from the media and greenies.
Posted by: rimfirejones at May 24, 2006 3:51 PMYou might be able to get out more energy than you put in, if you had a controlled, contained, energy-harvesting fusion reaction going on.
A workable fusion reactor being pretty much the holy grail of energy production research.
Posted by: Heartless Libertarian at May 27, 2006 11:50 PM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
