LA Auto Show on HHO Gas

Kevin at HydrogenCarsNow.com continues to be a persistent source of information about hydrogen on demand with this latest report on his visit to the recent LA Auto show.

Check it out.

Mike Allen's Follow Up HHO Testing

I left this comment on Mike Allen's Popular Mechanics comment section regarding his recently publicised testing:

I've spoken to Mike Allen on the phone about his work here on this topic and I dont think the readers are getting the complete story. First of all, Mike Allen has had a theory that this technology does not work. It's a reasonable theory for someone who has tested tons of these devices and never found one that works, but it is just a theory. People who read his article and conclude anything more than that the particular setup Mike tested does not work as advertised are going a bit too far based more on Mike's theory than his test results.
Read his test results. They say very clearly that only a dynamometer test will convince him that the technology works.
Now, Mike will say this technology is too ridiculous to test but since there's such an overwhelming public response, he has to do it. Great. But in doing so, he is perpetuating the very myth he is trying to dispell. What am I talking about?
Mike Allen is not the respected, appropriate authority to provide a scientific test of this technology. Sure, no disrespect because Mike is a smart guy and writes well but he's not what we need folks. By becoming an hho tinkerer himself, he only serves to fuel the idea that tinkering will finally land the big payoff.
To be clear, I do advocate hho tinkering but not if your Mike Allen, the journalist.
What persons like Mike Allen should really be advocating is a true scientific, federally recognized test of this technology. It trully surprises me that Mike Allen hasn't written about the fact that there are truly scientific processes that can be followed, that have been around for years which could settle this question once and for all.
What I advocate, as someone who has written about HHO for 2+yrs, is to have the EPA run their tests on a *series* of these devices. The problem is that these tests cost $14,000 and must be borne by the manufacturer. Sadly, no one has stepped up to subject themselves to these tests. But if the technology works, a real pot of gold lays on the other side of this rainbow.
If Popular Mechanics' intentions are true, then they could use their role to push for a non-standard EPA approach to this technology by having the federal government fund some of these tests. The angle to take could be via the Federal Trade Commission. Or it could be via a simple phone call to one's local House Representative or Senator.
What Mike Allen should really be doing is advocating a real scientific test that would be recognized by the US Federal government.
Would that really kill the so called myth of the water car? Maybe not but it would go a long way towards taming the debate.

Does anyone agree with me here or is everyone convinced that hundreds and thousands of non-authorities should continue to debate their test results?

FORD Motor Company is Investigating Hydrogen on Demand

If HHO Gas is so great, why aren't the large automotive companies researching it? They are! According to Jennnifer Moore from Ford Motor Company Communications, Ford Motor company is researching hho gas or hydrogen on demand systems for installation in Ford Vehicles. They have nothing to report in terms of specifics at this point but stay tuned!

This is another step in the right direction for this technology, which as it's viability becomes more apparent, could have a tremendous impact on our energy needs moving forward.

Old 2005 Wired Article regarding Truckers using HHO

I stumbled across this article while researching the phrase hydrogen fuel injection system. Hydrogen fuel injection systems are also known as water hybrid or water fuel cell or hydrogen on demand systems or hho gas. All of these are typically advertised as technologies that enable you to run your car or vehicle on water.

This article points out that a trucking company in Kansas was saving $700/month in fuel costs per truck by using these devices. Since gas prices have doubled since then, it's safe to assume they may be saving over $1500/month. They had ordered these for 25 units.

This is one of those cases where it's interesting to place a balance sheet showing decreased fuel costs next to a forum posting citing the impossibility of hho gas devices due to the laws of thermodynamics. Luckily, the issue is not merely philosophical but rather something to be settled by science! :-)

News from National Hydrogen Association

HHO Gas fans, there is some updated news from the National Hydrogen Association on what they call Hydrogen Fuel Injection Systems which we call hho gas generators or running your car on water. It's on the water hybrids page. I interviewed Patrick Searfass this week about this technology and he gave me alot of confidence that this industry is truly rising up out of nowhere and could become pervasive rapidly. It is very exciting.

Also, I put together a little post on pros/cons of do it yourself vs complete kits. Think of it as meta data based on all the ebooks and kits reviewed on the site. Of course, we're still waiting for the Aquygen folks to make some announcements about their product plans but as mentioned previously, it appears they will focus on the trucking industry first.

I'm hearing that alot of mechanics and folks who work with trucking fleets are starting to really get their hands dirty with this whole concept of water fuel cells.  To test this, I asked a couple friends who work in this field if they had heard of it and what they thought about it. Both were gung ho to test it out as quickly as possible.  The opportunity they see here is to become proficient at installing these kits so they can sell the units and installation services. 

Your USA Federal Government and HHO GAS

I spent part of my morning looking into your federal government's involvement in validating and promoting of hho gas or technologies based on it.  If you're a cynic, then you won't be shocked.  Essentially, to date, no manufacturer has approached the EPA with regard to testing a hydrogen fuel injection or hyrdogen on demand system, although the folks I spoke to are personally familiar with the offerings on the market. Unfortunately, the EPA is not mandated to find technologies to test but rather to work with any vendor who wishes their claims to be tested.  So far no hho gas device manufacturers have stepped up although the manufacturers I spoke to this morning have said they will do this testing eventually.  

MARKET ALERT: If you are a manufacturer of an HHO gas device and you are seeking to separate yourself from the pack, then you should seriously consider taking the EPA test at one of these qualified labs. 

For now, I believe--perhaps naively--that there is a research project here that could win Dept of Energy Funding.   Essentially, the project would have two parts:  1) validate the claims and establish proof of hho gas injection systems and 2) test various later stage kits offered by the top companies in the space.   Such testing would need to occur at an EPA approved lab following the regular battery of tests on a dynamometer.  Essentially, they test a vehicle prior to the installation of a device, after installation and then again after removal.  They can modify the test partially if for example the vendor claims that the system needs 30 days of road use for best results. 

If you are disappointed like me that the Dept of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency havent done more to promote, test and validate HHO GAS and technologies like water fuel cells or hydrogen on demand systems, you should contact your congressman like I intend to do. 

3rd Party Validation

One of my preoccupations with this blog lately has been to round up all the 3rd party validation testing that's been performed on hho gas based hybrids. It hasnt been easy because companies marketing these solutions seem to be growing rapidly just based on field tests of prospective customers who eventually become customers proper. 

Today, there was a news story done where the news station crew itself installed a unit on their news truck and ran a before/after test on a DYNAMOMETER.  They found their Dodge SUV increased MPG from 9mpg to 23mpg.  That's a 60% increase in mpg.  

I added the story to the Water Hybrids Review Page. Check it out!

Reviews

I did a little browsing of the web over the weekend and the explosion of websites, products and interest in hho gas is becoming mind boggling. In the coming days, we will start investigating more commercial entities targeting industry and fleets. And additionally, we may begin adding more products to the Water Hybrid Systems Review page. For now it's a good starting point if you are looking for information about some of the ebooks (like Water4Gas) and kits (like Hydrogen Boost) on the market.

Korean Government mandates HHO

I've been fortunate to be communicating with Kevin Kantola from Hydrogen Car & Vehicles about HHO and it's future. He is certainly one of the most knowledgeable sources of information for hydrogen generators for cars both fuel cells and hybrid plugins. He's a much accomplished and dedicated blogger.

Today he posted a great article on HHO generators and hydrogen on demand systems. Of note to me was the move by the South Korean Government to mandate HHO be installed on over 100,000 transport trucks in large part to cut down on emissions. Also of interest was a company called Hydrorunner which has 3rd party verification that their HHO on demand product is not a scam. There's alot of great information on Kevin's site.

The US Department of Energy dips it's toe

When I started this blog 18 months ago, all I really hoped to accomplish was to learn more about blogging by tracking an interesting news thread related to a CNN story on Aquygen. I didnt start this as a cheerleading soap box for hydrogen fuel cells or Aquygen for that matter. It just seemed like an interesting story that captures the imagination of anyone who ponders it for more than a moment: a car that can run on water?  Which ever way the wind blows on that one seemed like a good place to be--either it gets debunked and you have a human interest story covering a modern day scam or it gets validated and a modern energy revolution ensues transforming modern day life in a way we couldnt imagine even 5 yrs ago.  Nice odds either way. 

What's interesting to me is when I tell people I have a blog on water/hydrogen fuel cells, almost no one ask me whether or not I believe in it. Instead, they ask about what it's like to blog and how much money I earn from adsense, etc.   I've never taken a public position on where I stand with regard to this technology.  I reason with myself that I'm not a scientist capable of disproving these claims and try to simply stick to reporting or sharing information I find on the topic.  But If you've read this blog over the last several months, I think you can tell that I am hopeful about water based fuel cells.  I dont spend alot of time looking for disproving information....but I can tell you there are alot of angry people out there who identify themselves as either scientists or very science minded and who dismiss this technology with a  sneer.   Here's an example of what I mean from an engineering forums website. 

One good thing came from that article in that it caused me to look into what our very own USA tax dollars are doing to examine this new set of energy efficiency claims. After all, what are we getting for our $25Bil/yr anyway? Actually, that's a much wider scope than I'd like to cover here obviously so I confined it to a simple, "is anyone looking at this technology at DOE?"

Well, I couldnt find any studies or funded research per se but that was via a 10minute scan of their website.   What I did find was a section of the DOE website devoted to Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data and more specifically a page on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Related Links. 

If you scour that list you may find more than I did but what I found was a listing of a company called Hy-Drive Technologies LTD.  It appears to be a publicly traded company in Canada.  And their main focus is hydrogen on demand systems for vehicles although they appear to be heavily focused on heavy machinery vehicles....naturally, right, since that's where the consumption and dollars are if this thing is ever going to get going. 

What's interesting about Hy-Drive is they have a section listing the science behind their capabilities. Take a look at this list of scientific research related to their hydrogen on demand hybrid system.  And if you are a potential investor, have a read of this: short sweet summary of their capabilities from a benefits/advantages point of view. 

I think it's interesting to see how organized and serious this company is about pursuing a business based on a hydrogen on demand system.  While it does not constitute scientific proof, I think the fact that a publicly traded company is pursuing this at least puts the venture on a footing of increased legal scrutiny that is significant. 

But as for the Department of Energy having a link on it's website to this company, I find it very very interesting.  Yes, but you say, they have a disclaimer on that website saying they dont endorse any organization in the list.   Well, my response is  take a closer look at the full disclaimer statement.  This is a human edited list. And here's a note for the legal department at DOE to ponder: "The researchers and technical writers made diligent efforts to ensure the information presented on this site is accurate and complete."  

To me, that's fairly interesting but of course more information still needs to be gathered.

Photo Credit:  Hy-Drive's photo used in this post is found at this URL.