Water powered car?!?!?!

Topic: Water powered car?!?!?! (Read 1197 times) previous topic - next topic

Water powered car?!?!?!

June 15, 2006, 07:55:05 PM

http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/354/C8115/

All I have to say is we can only hope that it is true and that it doesn't affect the cost of water.

Water powered car?!?!?!

Reply #1 – June 15, 2006, 09:37:29 PM

wow, that sounds really cool...there's your independence from foreign oil!

Water powered car?!?!?!

Reply #2 – June 16, 2006, 04:48:09 AM

lets just hope water doesnt hit 3 bucks a gallon.
kinda cool though
If they start making those does that mean gas will go back down?

Water powered car?!?!?!

Reply #3 – June 16, 2006, 07:49:58 AM

Quote from: Master_xzavior

lets just hope water doesnt hit 3 bucks a gallon.
kinda cool though
If they start making those does that mean gas will go back down?

the gas prices would have to....... right now gas has no competetors.... surer there's movile, exxon and generic ones, but overall the gas companies have no competition brand wise.... the only thing that makes us mobile is gasoline, so if they are able to introduce a hydrogen or water car, they'd have to keep prices low to keep us buying the gas cars so they don't go out of business

Water powered car?!?!?!

Reply #4 – June 16, 2006, 08:30:21 AM

cool so we may be able to fill up for less then 60 bucks if they do

Water powered car?!?!?!

Reply #5 – June 16, 2006, 09:35:53 AM

Come now, people, surely you aren't falling for this hoax, that, interestingly enough, rears its ugly head every time there's a glitch in the world's oil supply.

Think about it. Water is a very stable molecule. It is stable because during the creation of the molecule all of the energy stored within the individual atoms was released - in other words, two hydrogn atoms met an oxygen atom, there was a spark, and kablooey. The result: Lots of heat, lots of light, and very little actual water.

Now, to undo this stable compound, you must put at least as much energy into the reaction as was released when it combined (I say "at least" because no energy source is 100% eficcient). Electrolysis is a very simple way to separate hydrogen from oxygen, but it is a very energy (and time) intensive way to do so. You must use more energy to separate the water molecule that you will get back when you recombine (burn) the hydrogen and oxygen. To produce the electricity required to create the electrolysis effect on a large scale (we'e talking billions of cubic feet of H2 daily) you'd need to replace the current electrical grid with something a whole lot more efficient and with a whole lot more capacity (the current grid has trouble keeping up with demand now, imagine doubling or even tripling the demand). Burning coal or oil would simply move the fossil fuel from your gas tank to a power plant, but it would still take the fossil fuel to run your car. Political and environmental reasons (as well as the fact that the technology is very far from perfected and is actualy still quite dangerous) prevent nuclear power from taking up the slack. Air and water power can only provide a small boost in electrical production. Because of this, hydrogen is not a feasible alternative to hydrocarbon-based fuels (gas, oil, ethanaol, etc). It's not feasible now, and it won't be feasible for the forseeable future. YOu simply cannot escape the laws of thermodynamics.

I've said it a million times: The only thing that makes people look for alternatives to oil is the fact that oil is expensive, and you can bet your ass that the alternative would not be much, if any, cheaper. There are probably hundreds of possible replacements, but right now they cost more than oil, so we use oil. When oil surpasses the price of a replacement (or gets expensive enough to make processing the replacement economically feasible) you'll start to see replacements, and not before then. The fact is, oil is still too cheap. People might growl when pumping $3/gallon gas into their SUV, but they continue to buy those SUV's. The only way we're going to bring the price of oil down is use less of it.

Water powered car?!?!?!

Reply #6 – June 16, 2006, 09:55:27 AM

get our farmers workign again!

go ethanol!

Water powered car?!?!?!

Reply #7 – June 16, 2006, 10:42:06 PM

I actually had a hydroelectric engine designed on paper at one time that was feesable and not complicated at all. The I got to watch movies like conspiracy theory and the such and decided I didn't want to disappear thanks to the gas companies and governments. So I disposed of the plans.

Water powered car?!?!?!

Reply #8 – June 17, 2006, 01:25:52 PM

you guys been haning out in "the circle" and talkin to hyde?

Water powered car?!?!?!

Reply #9 – June 19, 2006, 11:09:06 AM

Quote from: Master_xzavior

lets just hope water doesnt hit 3 bucks a gallon.
kinda cool though
If they start making those does that mean gas will go back down?

My thoughts are that at first, prices will climb when producers get hit hard by profit loss. You notice an 'un-named' car maker is interested, and there's a prototype Hummer being made, water/gasoline hybrid. Not that it won't work just as water, you just can't change a market like that overnight. Eventually, when people realize they don't need to be mixing anything with gasoline anymore, the prices will finally fall. Then, when no one depends on gasoline anymore, it will become extremelly hard to find, for older vehicles (classics), and prices will rise again, but only a small part of the market will feel it.

Bottom line, gas won't rise forever. But you'll be paying $150 for a jug when it comes time to change your oil.

That's why oil producers have it made. Their product is used, in large quantities, for a multitude of different purposes. If gasoline and even diesel go through the floor, there will always be lubricants, hydraulics, plastics, etc.