running car on water vapour instead of petrol

Andy_L

Road_Hog wrote: »

The thing is, governments don't want fuel cell cars that exhaust water only. Because it doesn't matter how clean and environmentally friendly they are, it would be difficult to tax them and they would have to find another tax revenue stream. Follow the money.

Why would it be difficult to tax hydrogen?

Andy_L

tod123 wrote: »

Just a quick question for any posters who have done a water vap conversion, have you seen much difference in performance?

Assuming you're talking about the systems that electrolise water to produce a small qty of hydrogen which is then mixed with petrol to improve the output (as oposed to fuel cells/hydrogen burning) then the question you have to ask is:

"If they are that good, why do manufactureres not fit them as standard in order to improve their mpg against their competitors?"

preferably with an answer that doesn't require tin-foil

atrixblue.-MFR-.

OPEL/GM/VX also have several ready to TEST vehicles.

honda nissan and toyota have them ready to go.

hydrogen cell powered vehicles cost allot more than your average plug in the mains electric car to produce, the honda for E.G when i saw a documentary on the car back at end of 2011 cost around £60.000 to £100.000. compared to 20-30.000 for a battery operated go cart with a roof.

Road_Hog

Andy_L wrote: »

Why would it be difficult to tax hydrogen?

Technically it is easy. In practice, it is far more difficult. Governments have been preaching 'green' fuels and 'green' taxes. They're going to have a hard time justifying it.

anotherbaldrick

Road_Hog wrote: »

is easy. In practice, it is far more difficult. Governments have been preaching 'green' fuels and 'green' taxes. They're going to have a hard time justifying it.

Since when have HM !!!!! felt the need to justify any tax impositions. If they loose out because cars go electric or fuel cell they will just tax the vehicle more for being on the road and tell you it is essential for the economy. Justify HUH !

Andy_L

Road_Hog wrote: »

Technically it is easy. In practice, it is far more difficult. Governments have been preaching 'green' fuels and 'green' taxes. They're going to have a hard time justifying it.

I see what you mean. However its something of a myth that hydrogen cars are green. Yes there's no pollution at point of use (which would be good for the urban atmosphere) but producing the hydrogen requires huge amounts of energy which can't, realistically, be produced from green sources so I'd expect carbon taxes to move to the point of generation rather than point of use

ebayqueen_2

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

Running a car on water is nothing new. But my friend has a better idea. He has invented an electric car that will do 80mph and never needs recharging. He's now trying to solve the last problem - how to get a piece of wire long enough to follow the car next time he does a 200 mile journey. Plus he tells me pedestrians have a habit of tripping over the wire which could be a bit of a problem if they don't keep their eyes peeled.

Thank you...made my day!!! Nearly hit the screen with the coffee I was drinking. LOLOLOlololoL:D:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::T

almillar

tod123 - the quote you provided is full of paranoid babble and no-science rubbish. The water vapour conversion you're talking about is 'snake-oil'. If anyone does come on and admit to fitting it, they'll tell you it didn't work, and it's a con.
By the way, would you be interested in buying a resistor I have that you can fit to your car's ECU which will provide it with less petrol, saving fuel?!

Cardelia

Andy_L wrote: »

I see what you mean. However its something of a myth that hydrogen cars are green. Yes there's no pollution at point of use (which would be good for the urban atmosphere) but producing the hydrogen requires huge amounts of energy which can't, realistically, be produced from green sources so I'd expect carbon taxes to move to the point of generation rather than point of use

Not yet, anyway. UK research councils are pouring huge sums of cash into funding scientific research which looks at generating hydrogen from renewable energy sources. It's certainly possible to do this currently - photoreduction of water is a well-established technique for producing "green" hydrogen - the problem is the efficiency of such devices is currently abysmal. It certainly wouldn't work for us in the UK because we receive so little sun. But if the efficiency of photocatalysts can be improved, even the UK would eventually be able to generate enough hydrogen to power itself using renewable sources.

I'm actually surprised a small, sunny, self-governing island community (one of the smaller Caribbean islands, for example) hasn't taken a punt on switching over to a hydrogen economy. With relatively few homes and cars to run, the start-up cost would be much smaller than for a country like the UK and it would be useful proof that a hydrogen economy could work.

Paradigm

almillar wrote: »

tod123 - the quote you provided is full of paranoid babble and no-science rubbish. The water vapour conversion you're talking about is 'snake-oil'. !

It's not quite as far fetched as you make out

Obviously, you can't "burn" water vapour but during WW2 there were a number of aircraft fitted with water injection (might still be used today).

Water was sprayed onto (into?) the fuel as it entered the combustion chamber. The cooling effect allowed higher super/turbo charger boosts for more power during "emergency" situations without destroying the engine. Some had a water/methonol system to further increase power.