Just check out this web page about a man's new invention of a technique to use radio waves to break down the salt in salt-water which releases hydrogen that is then ignited. Wow. His last line about being willing to sell his invention is a truly sad cap to this story. But it does make for an interesting new way we might be able to drive industry. Shoot, if I could get this for my home, I'd be stoked!
Actually, just check out the video here:
Actually, just check out the video here:
3 comments:
This is sort of like an inverse of Vonnegut's Ice 9. I hope they don't figure out how to set the oceans on fire any time soon! Solutions like these remind me that the problem isn't that we don't have enough fuel - its that we need too much!
"The fuel? Nothing more than salt water!"
...and the electricity that is being used to generate the radio waves, but that's just a minor detail.
This may be a way to store energy (electricity -> radio waves -> water -> hydrogen) but there will always be inefficiencies in the conversion (that damn 2nd law of thermodynamics again).
Also, keep in mind whenever you hear talk of the "hydrogen economy" or whatever, that hydrogen molecules' velocity is greater than the earth's escape velocity, so all hydrogen will eventually escape our atmosphere. That's why there's no naturally-occurring free hydrogen in our atmosphere - the only hydrogen that is around is the byproduct of decaying elements around radioactive sources, which goes into the atmosphere for a short while before it departs the earth.
This nerdery was brought to you by the letter G.
so if tarek is correct, the worse idea ever promulgated on this earth is that hydrogen should be used for fuel. when it is used, it will escape. No more... H2O.
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