A piece of sales blurb kicking around from a recent motor show invites me to run my car on water.
This ingenious invention, which for layman’s sake I’ll refer to as ‘Water-To-Fuel’ technology (WTF), consists of a small electrolyser that fits neatly under the bonnet. It’s connected to the car’s alternator where “otherwise wasted energy” (WTF) is used to generate hydrogen on the fly, no storage required.
This so-called ‘Brown’s gas’ is injected into the combustion chamber alongside the fuel, producing no less than: “More power and torque, 50% fewer emissions and up to 100% greater fuel efficiency.” WTF?
On paper this sounds great. It also sounds suspiciously like perpetual motion. The engine burns fuel to generate hydrogen, which is injected in with more fuel, which allows the engine to generate more hydrogen… we’re breaking the laws of thermodynamics.
Were efficiency savings really so straightforward, it seems strange that the mainstream manufacturers should decide not to fit them as standard….
