Water fuel technology whilst a potentially exciting technology has been dogged by difficulties in the actual implementation of the technology. In order to utilize water as a fuel source, it is necessary to break down and separate the two components that water is made up of (Hydrogen and Oxygen). Of the two elements, it is hydrogen that provides the power source, and hydrogen is an extremely effective means of producing power, twice as effective as traditional fossil fuels such as petrol. However, in order to use hydrogen to fuel a car, there are two options, both of which are plagued with problems.
The first is to make use of pure hydrogen, and store it in specialized containers so as to reduce and minimize the chances of a major accident, hydrogen can explode so this means stringent safety measures have to be employed. Using containers and hydrogen in its pure form would mean that precious fuel would not be lost during the degradation process, which leads onto the second option, to have water stored in the car, and then the hydrogen gained by degrading the water in the car. This would mean that less hydrogen would be stored in the car at any given time, thus reducing the risks, but in order to successfully degrade the water, you will require some energy first and lots of it.
Research has now evolved to such an extent that the next step maybe the use of solar power in order to provide the initial energy supply to begin the water fuel conversion process. Using a system of mirrors that would absorb the sun’s rays, and then converting the stored energy into electrical energy, the end result would be a car with minimal polluting emissions.
Regrettably, solar powered water fueled cars is still a long time away, a few generations away at least and will require a great deal of thought and testing. Current methods of degrading water into hydrogen have also enjoyed a breakthrough in the guise of using boron, boron is not only able to safely convert the hydrogen at a safe pace, but it also produces boron oxide. Boron oxide can then be removed from the car, and the oxygen removed, allowing for the boron to be used again and again. In effect, a self-perpetuating source of fuel!
