How'd the Illuminati Miss This Guy?
Sep. 7th, 2006 10:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Man invents water-powered car. No, really.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FBH4_FWBVA
This is setting off my bullshit-o-meter, because I find it hard to believe you can crack water molecules into an energetic gas without there being a greater energy cost somewhere along the way. OTOH if it actually works as advertized... Well, you can kiss the oil companies, coal companies, nuclear power industry, and who know who else buh-bye...
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FBH4_FWBVA
This is setting off my bullshit-o-meter, because I find it hard to believe you can crack water molecules into an energetic gas without there being a greater energy cost somewhere along the way. OTOH if it actually works as advertized... Well, you can kiss the oil companies, coal companies, nuclear power industry, and who know who else buh-bye...
no subject
Date: 2006-09-07 03:29 pm (UTC)If true...
Wow.
But yeah, I guess that's the big question. He says he uses electrolysis to break the water down, which means an investment of electricity. Obviously for his welder, that's electricity coming off the grid, but in a car? Either it would have to be so little electricity that you could make it go using an alternator and a battery, or else it's still low enough to work with the typical gas-electric hybrid setup.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-07 03:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-07 04:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-08 04:02 am (UTC)An alternator powered with, say, gasoline? Sheesh.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-08 04:08 am (UTC)As for the physics of it, total BS. You can heat water enough to get a plasma of hydrogen ions and hydroxyl radicals (HHO) but it's going to cool down damn fast and the energy goes into heat, not work. As a cutting torch I buy it. But the water is a working fluid, like in hydraulics, not a power source.
There's no way you can power a car usefully with this. You could do straight hydrogen but you're still burning something to break down the water.
I'm sure there's some oil, coal, and nuclear execs watching this and laughing themselves sick at how money that could fund competition is being thrown down this rathole.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-08 12:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-08 09:14 pm (UTC)As for using my imagination, it doesn't take much to imagine someone with connections to a Senator scamming the government out of a few million bucks by deluding the ignorant.