New Fuel: Saltwater?

From that home of advanced technology known as Erie, Penn., comes a breakthrough of burning saltwater. A retired TV station owner — and engineer — has discovered a way to burn saltwater using radio waves. No, we don’t believe it either, but a Penn State chemist found the science to in fact be true; the water itself isn’t burning, just the hydrogen that’s released from it using the radio wave emitter. It’s a pretty crazy notion, we agree, but when you see the simple engine moving at the end of the video below — just from the flame coming from a single test tube of saltwater — you’ll be stunned.

Can Saltwater Be Burned as Fuel? (Engadget)

Comments

[Euro]

free gas if you live by the ocean.

Watch opec buy out this guy and be like stfu with this idea and go away, this will never hit mainstream and we will continue selling our 4 dollar per gallon gas.

[water man]

Even if true, I doubt it produces more energy than it consumes in making the radio waves.

[Kim]

I am definitely interested and would love to help fund research!!

[J]

Full of bull news broadcasters.

They say it can save you money, but it is NO WHERE CLOSE to be used practically.

[starlightmica]

Hmmm, time to get an Amphicar and convert it to run on saline.

[Ken L.]

Wait a minute, if this guys decides to shoot that radio wave into the ocean, over 70% of the earth would be on fire! But finding the least costly and most abundant way to power our future transportation without affecting other resources would be ideal; and finding a cure to cancer would be good as well.

[I play a scientist on TV]

This does not make salt water into a fuel. This simply causes the water in the salt water to separate into hydrogen and oxygen. The same thing can be accomplished by putting an electric current through water. It is impossible for this to create more energy in the form of hydrogen for burning than is used to create the radio waves that are shot through the water. Is this our energy salvation? HELL NO. Is this a clever way to separate water into its elemental components that could also be accomplished with electrolysis? Yes.

Claiming this is producing energy from salt water is like putting some electrodes in your pool and inviting the news media over to observe the "free" hydrogen. Ignore the plug behind the curtain and the madly spinning electric meter.

Everyone who is amazed by the "free" energy should go back to high school for a remedial science class. Scientific illiteracy is frightening, wide spread, and a threat to the world.

[Paul]

Congratulations, he's created a perpetual motion machine.

In other words, the news media doesn't know when it has been duped by a clear violation of the 2nd law of thermodynamics. The one that basically says "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch".

The fact that he starts at the same point (water) and ends at the same point (water) is a guarantee that the net energy could not have been created. Where did it come from? Whatever energy comes out is exactly equal to what was put in.

Nothing new here

[Perry]

This has nothing to do with the law of thermodynamics. Hydrogen is a viable fuel. The problem is breaking it loose from water economically. It's got 70% efficiency at this early stage. 200 watts on the RFG will only provide 140 watts of power. But,it's very promising imo.

[matt]

Big oil will buy it, and kill it. >:(

[Anon]

All it takes is one environmental group to say "Oh No Think of the fishies!" And there will be zombie people against this.

[Salty]

Stop hating on the man. If anyone of us had come up with this, we would have sold it to the highest bidder without anyone ever knowing about it.
Who cares about cars with this invention - how selfish of us. There are countries that could use this instead of nuclear power. There are also others that could use it as WMD. Just revealing the invention starts the clock toward those that will break the code of his invention and use it for their own devices for bigger ambitions.

WE talk about cars.

How small of us.

[Dan]

Perry-
You don't know what the second law of thermodynamics is, do you?

Everyone else on here has it right. When you break the hydrogen bond on the water molecule, you must spend the ammount of energy associated with that bond. When you put it back, you get that energy back, EXCEPT that entropy always increases in each reaction, eating up some of the energy. You can't have 100% efficient conversion of energy, and you certainly can't have a >100% efficient conversion.

Hydrogen may be a viable energy storage device, similar to a battery or flywheel. But, there is no abundant source of elemental hydrogen on earth, and generating it for power production always nets a negative total energy. The idea of a "hyrdogen economy" is the brainchild on individuals who don't even understand the very basics of science. It's very dangerous when we let those individuals make decisions.

[BrentB]

Hydrogen is burning folks...chemical energy...E=mc^2.