Oil crisis solved

[Angus]

17- Threads started or posts made, devoid of commentary will not be allowed (i.e. links, cut-n-pastes, clicky, read this...)

[john9001]

hmmmm, water your corn field or drive your car?

[Masherbrum]

I don't have a corn field.   

[Jackal1]

What oil crisis?

[yanksfan]

Fresh water is already in short supply, good idea for now, what happens when we are fighting over fresh water?

[Holden McGroin]

From Fuel Cell Today

It is claimed the Water Energy System (WES) developed by Genepax can generate power by supplying water and air to the fuel and air electrodes. The basic power generation mechanism of the system is similar to that of a standard fuel cell. The main feature of the new system is that it uses a membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which contains a material that breaks down the water to hydrogen and oxygen.

Though the company did not reveal any more detail the company president said that they had "succeeded in adopting a well-known process to produce hydrogen from water to the MEA", similar to the mechanism that produces hydrogen by a reaction of metal hydride and water. However the company claims that compared with the existing method, the new process produces hydrogen from water for a longer time.

"similar to the mechanism that produces hydrogen by a reaction of metal hydride and water"

I've read about systems that erode metal hydride in water, the reaction producing hydrogen.  What is not in the energy balance is the energy used to produce the MH.

There is much about this story that remains unsaid.  Magic does not exist.

Water is the result of a reaction of hydrogen and oxygen that releases chemical energy.  It is the result of a reaction, not the fuel for one. It takes more energy to break the bonds of the water molecule than you get from the combination to make the molecule in the first place.

Fueling the car with water is something called perpetual motion.  It does not exist, no one has ever repealed the second law.

[MoeRon]

WATER IS NOT A FUEL

One can split water into hydrogen by electrolysis but it takes a lot of energy - more than you can recover by recombining the hydrogen and oxygen to water.

[soda72]

Interesting, they say in the video that it can run on any kind of water including sea water.

[Holden McGroin]

I saw a magician once who said he was levitating.

[E25280]

WATER IS NOT A FUEL

One can split water into hydrogen by electrolysis but it takes a lot of energy - more than you can recover by recombining the hydrogen and oxygen to water.

While true, energy production is not necessarily a zero sum game.  In theory if you could get the energy to create hydrogen through "renewable" power supplies (wind, solar, blah blah) and then use that hydrogen to power your car, the "wasted" energy is not an issue.  It solves the problem of trying to use solar energy to power a car directly, which they have never been able to do cheaply / safely / practically.

We'll see if this goes anywhere.  I have my doubts.

[CAP1]

What oil crisis?

you knowwwww....that one where we're almost out of oil. the same one as from 1979, remember?

[AquaShrimp]

Water could be a fuel if an enzyme was developed to break the oxygen and hydrogen apart in an energy efficient manner.

[Holden McGroin]

Water could be a fuel if an enzyme was developed to break the oxygen and hydrogen apart in an energy efficient manner.

The energy balance would still be: more energy into breaking the molecular bonds than released when forming the bonds.

[AKIron]

We have more energy beaming to us from the sun than we could ever possibly use. We need to learn how to collect it more efficiently.

[AKIron]

The energy balance would still be: more energy into breaking the molecular bonds than released when forming the bonds.

<edit>
These little buggers might give us hydrogen from water. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/26/bacteria_hydrogen_production/