Ethanol Update

[Mee-n-Mac]

Originally Posted by hazelnut

So why is it you never hear about stories such as this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuoBuhg4PL0

If this is legit it could change the world. Why wouldn't this be heralded as one of the greatest inventions of our time. Why doesn't this get the same press as a cure for "X" disease would. I mean curing our dependency on foreign oil would be just about the single greatest feat in our time on earth wouldn't it? I just happened to stumble on that video about a year ago and I have not seen or heard anything since then regarding the subject?

You've not heard more because it's not "legit". Mr Klein has re-invented "Brown's Gas", aka hydrogen. BMW has cars running internal combustion engines on pure H2 (as have other's before them) and you can increase your car's efficiency a bit by adding a little H2 to the gas/air mixture (supposedly the higher combustion temps that result increase the efficiency of the gas burning). This isn't new science in any respect. What you can't do is get energy from water to use as a fuel/energy source.

You can electrolyze water, turning it into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2). No matter what claims are made for catylists and new methods of electrolyzing (I saw one using microwaves to "zap" the water), you won't get the same energy back re-combining H2 and O2 that was needed to separate them. It's a net energy loser. Hydrogen may have a place in the scheme of things since it's relatively quick when refueling (unlike a battery) but it's a method of carrying energy (like a rechargable battery) rather than a source of energy (like oil).