Hydrogen is by no means a 'new' concept for powering machinery as it use dates back 200 years or more. Many or most of the textile mills ran on steam. So now, with all the World looking to 'renewable energy' we look back to our ancestors and the way they utilized the 'power sources' they had available. Not quite dangle a carrot in front of the donkey, but natural resources.

It may almost seem an impossibility that cars can run on water, but by combining electricity used to break the molecules of Hydrogen and oxygen it can be achieved. Various Companies are working on high pressure storage tanks to contain hydrogen at present current tanks can hold 5000 pounds per square inch (psi) which would allow vehicles to travel around 200 miles without refueling.

So exactly in a lay man's language does all this work?

By means of a fuel cell which combines hydrogen and oxygen converting it into electricity. The two elements combine into water via an exothermic reaction which means gives out heat and the water is disposed of as a waste product.

Basically it works a little like the battery on the car. This is also an electrochemical converter. You top it up with water, and via electrobes it produces power. Unfortunately a battery eventually dies. With a fuel cell however there is a constant flow and it never dies.

I chanced across a site that gives a simple exothermic reactive experiment using nothing more than a Thermometer, a Jar with a lid, some steel wool and vinegar.

http://chemistry.about.com/cs/ howtos/ht/exothermic.htm

Just a bit of simple 'back to school' fun but it works.

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