Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Oceanside, CA
Posts: 5073

Your next car will be a potted plant

Apparently, scientists are making a lot of progress in understanding how it is that plants separate the hydrogen atoms from water molecules. The full (Yahoo) article is here.
This is important because, as it says in the article, the only practical way we currently have to produce hydrogen from water is via electrolysis, which is energetically very expensive. If we could understand how plants do this (apparently some nifty catalyst), we might be able to come up with a way to do the same thing on a massive scale, producing hydrogen from water in an energy-efficient way and doing a lot to make hydrogen-based power practical.

Maybe engineer some bacteria to do it...of course, if those got into the water supply (or even one's own body), then one would have some serious problems.

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Registered: Dec 2003
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Posts: 43

According to Back To The Future II, we'll have flying cars next year.

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Registered: Jan 2004
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Posts: 2025

More like a few years:
http://www.moller.com/

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Registered: Dec 2003
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Then add another 30 til they real the mainstream.

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Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Oceanside, CA
Posts: 5073

Oh, do I want one of those.
Very nice, thanks for the link!

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Registered: Dec 2003
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This is gonna make running from the cops very exciting.

IT FLIES!

Last edited by BadNews on 02-07-2004 at 01:43 AM

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Registered: Nov 2003
Location: armpit, wv
Posts: 1217

The Flying Car

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Shreveport, LA
Posts: 2936

I don't see why electrolysis should be overlooked. Yes, it takes alot of energy to create the electricity used but that can be overcome. Windmills and waterwheels are one way to produce the juice, another is a way I came up with. Powerlines waste much of their energy through heat but some of it is lost through static drain as well. Why not harness both wasted sources to provide energy to produce hydrogen? Atop some power towers we would place pipes filled with a heat conducting fluid. The power lines would run through these pipes, heating the fluid with the normally wasted heat. The heat in turn would turn Stirling engines which through the use of gearing and flywheels would turn small generators. These generators would then feed electrolysis tanks. Around the fluid filled pipes would be coils of wire. These wires would be charged by the static electricity from the main power line and ran to more electrolysis tanks. Thus, two sources of wasted electricity is converted to power to feed hydrogen production.

Simplistic I know but it's the best I can explain it ATM.

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