Is it possible to make a car that runs on water?
No, not some sort of amphibious station wagon with inflatable bumpers – a car that relies on water as the fuel that makes the engine go. It’s an idea that showed up in a magazine more than seven decades ago. But can it really work?
That’s one of the questions in this edition of “Ask AP,” a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers’ questions about the news.
If you have your own news-related question that you’d like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with “Ask AP” in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.
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What happened to the bodies of the three pirates killed by Navy snipers as they were holding the captain of the Maersk Alabama?
Dan B.
New Mexico
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The bodies of the three slain pirates remain in the morgue aboard the USS Boxer, Navy Cmdr. Jane Campbell says. The bodies were transferred to the Boxer, a large amphibious assault ship, from the smaller USS Bainbridge, the ship from which Navy SEAL snipers shot and killed them.
The Pentagon has been working with officials in Puntland, a peaceful region of Somalia, and the International Committee of the Red Cross in hopes of either finding their families or otherwise disposing of the bodies of the Muslim men in a respectful way.
Lara Jakes
Associated Press Writer
Washington
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I was reading an article from Modern Mechanix dated December 1935 about G.H. Garrett inventing a car engine that ran on water. It says he used an electrolytic carburetor that broke up water into gases and then forced the hydrogen into the combustion chambers for fuel. It also says the only thing that needed to be changed on the engine was adding an oversized generator.
Is this just a hoax, or is this real? If it’s real, why aren’t the auto manufactures expanding on this?
Mike Durand
Sunset, Texas
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Hydrogen has been used for years in the transportation sector. Astronauts used it to visit the moon; buses chug through today’s cities powered by it; and the Hindenburg used it to float (though we know how that ended).
G.H. Garrett did get his device to work, and he reportedly rode it around his hometown of Dallas. But splitting hydrogen from water requires power, and the power output from this device is usually equal to the power needed to get the hydrogen out of the water.
In other words, you’d need just as much energy to power your car as you do now. You’d just have a slightly different type of engine, and you’d have to bring along some water.
Today, the closest thing to Garrett’s invention is likely an HHO generator, which splits a combination of water and other chemicals into a type of gas – mostly hydrogen – that can supercharge an internal combustion engine’s efficiency.
Car owners can outfit their engines with the devices using any number of kits, most of which are available on the Internet.
The physics and chemistry of the process, though, tend to be inefficient and some users report they do little to improve a gasoline engine’s performance. That’s why major automakers haven’t used the technology more.
(Be careful if you decide to install one of these devices, as tampering with your engine could void your car’s warranty.)
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and it’s a great energy source. That hasn’t been lost on automakers, which have been actively developing a fleet of cars powered just by hydrogen, bypassing Garrett’s design altogether.
The latest technology uses fuel cells, and mixes hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity for a motor. The only emission is water.
Hydrogen isn’t found alone on Earth, and it’s best separated from other elements commercially and in large batches. Hydrogen refueling stations, akin to gas stations, have popped up in some states, most notably California.
The difficulty of getting more hydrogen cars on the road is not just the lack of a distribution network, but also public perception. Most Americans can’t shake the image of the Hindenburg exploding over a New Jersey airfield, and are reluctant to use the same fuel that led to the dirigible’s demise.
Of course, most people drive around sitting on gallons of gasoline. That fuel is certainly flammable, too.
Ernest Scheyder
AP Energy Writer
New York
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We see many numbers about the mortgage crisis but not a total picture. How many residential properties have mortgages that are over 50 percent paid, 25 to 49 percent paid, zero to 24 percent paid, and less than zero percent paid (aka “upside down”)?
Jon Boston
Marshalltown, Iowa
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The mortgage crisis does not involve every homeowner in America, because about 30 percent of them do not have a mortgage. Although homeowners who paid cash for their property or have paid off their mortgage have been indirectly affected because the rash of mortgage defaults and foreclosures have pushed down home values in much of the nation.
Of the residential properties with first mortgages in the U.S., 92 percent of homeowners had less than 50 percent equity in their homes as of the fourth quarter of 2008, Moody’s Economy.com reports.
Nearly 27 percent of homeowners with first mortgages were “upside down,” meaning they had no equity in their home, according to Moody’s Economy.com.
Adrian Sainz
AP Real Estate Writer
Miami
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Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.