Can You Run Your Car on Water?

The idea that a car can run on water has been promulgated by a number of different companies selling kits on the Internet. These kits claim that for just a little bit of money, you can save significant amounts of money by being able to run your car on water. While there is energy in water, there is currently no practical application that exists to allow you to run your car on water.

Given the state of gas prices, Web sites have come up with some fairly inventive ways to get people to believe that a car running on water is possible. Some claim to use water as a supplement to the gas a driver currently uses. Others say it is possible to run your car on water with no other fuel source.

These Web sites claim it is easy to run your car on water by using technology that separates the hydrogen atoms from the oxygen atoms. The resulting mixture is known as HHO, also called Brown's Gas or oxyhydrogen. It should be noted that HHO is another way of writing H2O. The gas has the power potential of hydrogen, but the stability of oxygen, it is claimed.

As mentioned, water molecules do have energy potential that can be attained by separating the elements. However, the energy required to separate the atoms is approximately the same as the energy that is released from the separation, leading to a net gain of zero energy production. Therefore, being able to run your car on water is not practical, given the current state of technology. In fact, even with improved technologies it may be highly unlikely there will be enough improvements in efficiency to run your car on water.

Given the continual search for answers to fossil fuels, a gasoline alternative such as water is a very attractive idea. However, even if cars will never be able to run on water, alternatives are being developed a little more each day. Technologies that are seen as more promising than water are electric, hybrids using electricity and gasoline, cars that run on natural gas and hydrogen fuel cells, which produce water as a byproduct.

In the end, searching for alternative fuels and cleaner burning fuels may be very economical and better for the environment. However, most of the technologies that have practical uses are already being mass produced. As new technologies come online and do so in a way that is affordable to middle class individuals, they will receive widespread attention. If water is ever found to be viable fuel source, chances are you will hear about from more reputable sources than just a few niche Websites.