HHO NEWS GOES CRAZY!!!

For the two years that I've been studying HHO Gas and HHO Generators, I've seen alot of local news stations and local newspapers cover the story.  But in the past 30 days, there seems to have been an E X P L O S I O N of stories about HHO.  Let's go to the list of links.  Outside the US, it's all about "electrolisers" or what we call HHO Generators. Here's an article about a Barbados company, Trans-Tech, installing electrolizers around the Caribbean and South America.   Next, we go to Northern California for a story about Ben Overbeck who started out by reading Water4Gas and then started selling his own kits. It references the Popular Mechanics study being performed on these units now by Mike Allen who's quite frankly a bit of a jackass because he came out early on saying these things dont work but then later admitted it was worth testing so he's building a unit now himself.   Next, we go to South Washington County, MN for yet another local mechanic making a mint out of selling hho generators.  Any time you see a glass jar, it's likely the "local inventor" started with a Water4Gas ebook.  Again, it's a good starter for someone looking to learn more about this technology and unlike a KIT, you can get a refund if the technology is not for you.   Let's close this HHO update with a story done by Corpus Christi's KRISTV covering an RV shop, Colonia Del Rey RV that does the installs.  They should be in the WaterFueling.com directory. 

HHO Questions: Where to go for Answers

Alot of people contact me with questions about this or that aspect of HHO, HHO Generators, what kits to use, where to buy the kits, the ebooks to buy, etc. Sometimes, they try to use the comments feature of this blog to get answers. For most questions like that, I now recommend posting them to a public forum set up for that purpose, ie,

WaterFueling.com

There are forums where you can discuss technical details, ebooks, experiences, and you can find people who can install hho gas systems, as well as HHO Events in the HHO Calendar. etc.

Japanese Water Car: Powered by Water and ???

Alot of us have Japanese Cars but there is apparently only one Japanese Water Car. Maybe your friends told you they learned about a Japanese Water Powered Car recently.  This posting will briefly describe what you need to know about this Japanese Water Car. :-)  To begin, let's debunk the first myth associated with this story.  On June 12, 2008, a Japanese company called Genepax DID NOT announce that they had manufactured a water powered car but rather they announced that they created a power generation system that some are calling a water fuel cell but which Genepax calls the  "Water Energy System (WES)" and whose core technology is a "membrane electrode assembly (MEA)" that is essentially device with a special material they developed which when immersed in water produces hydrogen or HHO gas.  They created a fuel cell installed it into an electric car made by Takeoka Mini Car Products Co. Ltd.  Essentially an electric plug feeding the car was connected to the WES and the result is what will likely become known as a Japanese Water Powered Car.  They claim that "continuous recharge is possible with the system mounted in the car." Based on the information released on their website, the company does not intend to enter the car market but rather go after all the various energy needs of the planet.  They disavow any reports that attribute specific figures related to converting water to miles per litre or gallon.  Reuters had reported that the car could travel 1hour at 50kph on 1 liter of water. 

But if they dont intend to make cars with their invention, what do they want to do? As they say on their website, "it is urgent that the WES

 be disseminated to the greatest extent possible throughout the world. " But how? Can you invest in their company?  No, they do not intend to go public and are not seeking private funding.  Can you sell their product?  No. But if you have an application for the technology, you can approach them via their website to pitch your idea to utilize WES.  They believe in mass production, their units will cost around $5000. 

Let's back up a bit. What kind of water does it use?  It can use tap, river or sea water but they say pure water keeps the unit cleaner longer. They stress that nothing other that WES and water is the source of the energy in the system.  According to their President and CEO, Kiyoshi Hirasawa, "we have created this kind of ideal energy...from water."

What's next?  First, they say some 3rd party test results will be released.  This will tell us whether or not it is a hoax. They are inviting the foreign press to meet them in Japan and learn more about WES. 

What's my take on this?  I think alot of what was believed to be understood about hydrogen generation specifically in relation to automobiles has been rewritten in the past 18 months ala hydrogen fuel injection systems.  But in this scenario, energy is gathered first from the electrical charge off  car battery.  In Genepax's case, they are claiming no such need for a battery.  My guess is there is an abundant amount of room for tinkering around with hydrogen generation.   But ultimately, this could still be a hoax with some associated scam.  Time will tell. 

Another HHO Gas Manufacturer

Came across another of those local news station pieces on a "local inventor" who has created their own HHO Gas or hydrogen on demand system. I'm working on putting together some interviews of these companies in the coming days. 

My take on this is that folks are educating themselves about how to build these things and once they build a prototype or two, the next logical step is to create a company and sell the devices on the Internet. Is there some reason why you shouldn't do the same thing? :-)  I think the real marketing angle here is word of mouth not so much the Internet. That's what I'm hearing from mechanics I've spoken to about this. 

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.

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.