| I've seen it over the last few days; gas is starting to | | | | has. Building an infrastructure to store and transport |
| top 4 dollars a gallon. Predictions are being made that | | | | hydrogen around the country in the volumes needed to |
| the price of a barrel of oil will top $240 by this time | | | | fuel our cars would be beyond prohibitive. But people |
| next year. The days of cheap fuel are in the past. | | | | thought about that and realized that there is a save |
| China and India are industrializing more and more, and | | | | and readily available source of hydrogen: water. |
| when they are no longer a source of super cheap | | | | Clean, safe, easily obtainable water. |
| labor, that will shift to Africa, and when they industrialize | | | | Water consists of two Hydrogen and one Oxygen |
| it will cease being even remotely feasible to burn | | | | atom. Both of which are very flammable. Split these |
| petroleum based fuels in our cars. | | | | apart and you've got a great fuel. This is done by |
| So what is all this fuss about Hydrogen and whatnot? | | | | running electrical current through water to break the |
| Can't we just switch to Ethanol and burn fuel made | | | | bond between the atoms. Certain electrolytes and |
| from corn? We can, and the oil companies really | | | | special metals can assist in making this easier and |
| wouldn't mind that much as we still need big refineries | | | | more energy efficient. The gas that is released is |
| and all of their advanced distribution systems to get | | | | called HHO or Brown's Gas (there are subtle |
| that Ethanol fuel to our cars. Also, most of our cars | | | | differences depending on the process used). People |
| would need upgrades (new gas tanks, no aluminum | | | | often call the devices that produce the gas |
| parts in contact with the ethanol) to properly handle it. | | | | 'electrolyzers' or 'hydrogen generators'. |
| There is a huge lobby movement to make this the fuel | | | | Building a system to power your car entirely off of the |
| of the future. | | | | gas from these hydrogen generators can be a bit of a |
| Ethanol is not a viable solution. | | | | challenge as the average car consumes a |
| The reason is simple, it takes more energy to make it | | | | tremendous amount of vaporized air-fuel mixture, and |
| than we get from it and farmers are growing corn for | | | | it is beyond the means of the average person to build |
| ethanol when they used to grow it for food. I don't | | | | a car that runs entirely off of the HHO/Brown's gas |
| know about you, but I'd rather eat than drive. Don't | | | | fuel. |
| think this is corn for your food; corn is a large part of | | | | However, it is very easy to supplement your existing |
| most animal feed. More expensive corn means more | | | | gas with the HHO/Brown's gas fuel and gain a vast |
| expensive meat - even your cat food will go up in | | | | increase in miles per gallon. Some users of these DIY |
| price. | | | | hydrogen generators have reported gains of over |
| That's why everyone from experimenters in their | | | | 100% increase in MPG, though the averages are |
| garages to BMW and Ford are starting to turn to | | | | closer to 40%. Keep in mind that a 40% increase on a |
| Hydrogen as a fuel source. | | | | car that gets 30MPG is 42MPG. For the average |
| Believe it or not, but most cars on the road today can | | | | American that is $47.84 per driver per month, or about |
| burn hydrogen with little or no modification. | | | | $90/month per household. That's if you drive at, or |
| Isn't that dangerous, you ask? Isn't hydrogen rather | | | | below the average. If you are over the average miles |
| flammable and not at all safe? You're right, of course. | | | | driven per year (which is only 15000) then your savings |
| Few gasses have the explosive power that hydrogen | | | | start to increase. |