I'm Mad As Hell And
I'm Just Not Going To
Take It Anymore!!
Frequently Asked Questions About It All
What are you so mad about?
Okay, first of all, there’s the basic facts you’ve been hearing all over the place. In the US, we represent 3% of the world’s population, but we use 25% of the world’s oil. We import 70% of all the oil we use. That oil costs billions of dollars, and the oil that is pumped in Montana costs us the same as the oil pumped in Saudi Arabia. The out-of-pocket cost of gas is the most expensive consumer spending item in the country next to housing, and the prices are going up. Every intelligent person in our government agrees that our dependence on foreign oil is the single biggest danger to our national security and our economy.
So, what’s being done to reverse that trend? NOT A DAMN THING! And that’s the thing I’m so mad about! The politicians don’t have the courage or the means to demand better efficiency from car manufacturers, the car manufacturers are more committed to profitability than they are serving consumers, and oil companies couldn’t care less about your suffering as long as the profits role in. And what solutions do we hear from the powers that be? Drill more (even though it will take 5 – 10 years before we get the first drop of oil). Open up the coastlines and the environmental areas and BAM! All of a sudden everyone in the world will suddenly know we’re serious and gosh, they won’t want to piss off the U.S., and so sure, they’ll back off on their prices just to keep everybody happy. Yeah, right!
Well, we could also have that ol’ “Gas Tax Holiday!”. Uh huh. “Give the money to the people”, they say. “Help out the soccer Moms” they say. As if that would make any difference in the price.
What about alternative fuels? “Let’s do it all”, they say, but there’s no money. “We’ll encourage innovation” they say, but then they refuse to extend the same kind of tax credits that are lavished on oil companies. “Better fuel efficiency” they say, but it will take 5 – 20 years to get there.
Is that the best the greatest country in the world can do? In the mean time, we (you an me) keep paying, and paying and paying. Well, I say…
ENOUGH! Let’s take this matter into our own hands! (Whew, but you asked.)
What's The Main Problem We Need To Address?
The modern gasoline engine has an average efficiency of about 25 to 30%. THAT'S ASTONISHING. Every other element of our technology has made eye-popping advances in efficiency over the past two decades. Computers are a hundred times faster and a fraction of the size that they were 20 years ago. In fact, cell phones do more today than computers did in 1975. Household appliances use a fraction of the electricity, video technology has zoomed ahead since the days of "Star Wars", and cassette tapes are dinosaurs compared to the massive storage and playback ability of MP3 players.
But not so with gas engines. 70 to 75% of the energy stored in the increasingly expensive gas we buy is WASTED - as heat, pollution (unburned fuel!) and vibration. Only about 25% of that energy actually moves the vehicle.
We could debate WHY that has happened, but that's a different conversation. The bottom line is that it has happened, and the people who design and manufacture those engines have no real incentives to do anything any different. In fact, they are rewarded for keeping the status quo, as long as they make incremental improvements. It's maddening, and it needs to change.
Unfortunately, the change that needs to happen is moving at a snails pace. Government and industrial power brokers are playing a waiting game with regards to efficiency. Our national energy policy is designed to promote and advance oil dependance. If we wait for the big boys to solve this problem, we'll be waiting for years and we'll be spending BILLIONS of dollars that we just don't have to spend.
Fortunately, there are readily available solutions to improving the ridiculous efficiency levels of our gas engines. Those solutions are wide-spread and varied, but the most promising ones fall into a category called "Hydrogen On Demand".
What is a HydroCar? What is “Hydrogen-On-Demand”?
“Hydrocar” refers to any vehicle that has incorporated a system for breaking down water molecules into combustible hydrogen gas, and then directing that gas into an internal combustion engine. The hydrogen-releasing technology itself has been around for 75 years, but early version required a massive structure to accomplish the task.
Over time, as the knowledge base grew and as new technologies emerged, entrepreneurs have found more and more efficient ways of producing this hydrogen from water. Today, there are dozens of products using this technology, including high-temperature welding machines. Hydrogen gas is very flammable, producing more heat and less pollution than comparable amounts of gasoline. It burns cleanly in virtually any type of internal combustion engine and produces almost zero pollution. We don’t see as much of it in the US, but in Europe (where gas is way more expensive) hydrogen has been used as car fuel for decades.
The point is that hydrogen as a motor fuel is already widely accepted around the world and increasingly more so in the US. It is much more efficient than carbon-based fuels and it gives off NO POLLUTION. It’s cheaper to make than oil, but then you do have to worry about how to store it and how to transport it. The main barrier to hydrogen being more widely used as an automotive fuel in this country is distribution. Only one state, California, has more than 20 hydrogen filling locations, thirteen other states have ten or less stations, and the other 39 states have no distribution at all.
Notwithstanding critics and doomsayers, the process is actually very simple and quite safe. You don't have to modify or change your engine at all. A small container is placed in the car, somewhere under the hood. You fill it with water, and usually some common electrolyte, such as baking soda. The device is supplied with electricity (12 Volts) from the battery, and via electrolysis it produces HHO gas, which is fed into the car's air intake system.
That’s why “hydrogen-on-demand” (also called “waterfuel”) is gaining such rapid exposure. The most popular and easy to implement version doesn’t try to fuel your car entirely on hydrogen, it uses hydrogen to beef up the gas mixture your car is already using. In other words, it simply improves the dreadful efficiency of wasteful gas engines. When it works right, it allows individual drivers to ongoingly produce their own hydrogen supply right under their own hood, using (get this!) distilled water and baking soda! The result of that infusion of hydrogen is improved fuel efficiency, sometimes as much as doubling the MPG, but more routinely something in the range of 30 – 50% increased efficiency.
How Does A Hydrogen "Booster" Work?
The electrolysis that takes place inside the booster produces hydrogen gas (HHO). The HHO gas is supplied to the engine through the air intake manifold and vacuum lines that provide the combustion chamber with air. This hydrogen-boosted air helps your gasoline burn more efficiently, while producing its own combustion. That added combustion of the hydrogen gives you more power, and ultimately requires less gasoline to run your engine, resulting in better gas mileage.
It seems as if this process violates the laws of physics, but it doesn't. The simple design of the booster causes some people to question it's ability to produce enough hydrogen. But we've known for years (75 of them!) that splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen by electrolysis is completely doable. The combination of the electrolyte added to the water, the electricity supplied by the battery and the vacuum created inside the booster does the job efficiently at a level that works just fine.
I’m skeptical about this technology. Why should I trust it?
I completely understand! I started looking into the HOD idea several years ago. I even ordered a book about it. But it was all pretty complicated (and I’m a smart guy!) and I just didn’t believe the promises. And so I sat on everything – FOR OVER 2 YEARS! Recently, I happened across a new site with a new way of presenting the idea. It was so much easier to understand, and I could actually see how do-able it was. Three things moved me to action:
1.
The cost of gas in my neighborhood has been rising steadily (we’re now close to $4/gal).
2.
The public awareness of how addicted we are to foreign oil, and my own realization that nothing was going to change in the next 5 years, started making me mad. I’m fed up with listening to all the crapola and excuses from politicians, auto makers and oil execs.
3.
This particular idea looked like something I could do for a minimal investment.
Taking everything into account, I decided to take the plunge. Even at that point, I was totally skeptical, but I realized that if nobody tried anything new, we’d be in the same pot 5 years from now that we are in right now. I’m not saying “Trust it.”, I’m saying “Check it out!”. How else will you know?
This technology has been around a long time. Hasn’t it been disproved in the past?
This technology HAS been around a long time. Some version of it has been circulating for over 75 years. And while there have been problems with various products and publications, the technology itself is solid.
Two things illustrate how reliable this technology is. One, the International Space Station has been using Hydrogen-On-Demand to run the space station since it was launched. Second, major car manufacturers, such as Honda and BMW, have already developed their own versions of HOD vehicles. Unfortunately for us consumers, these cars are not yet being developed in quantity, and when they are, they will cost about $45,000 to buy one. Yikes!
So the problem is not with the technology itself, it has been with the programs and products used to deliver this technology to consumers. When I saw the simplicity and low cost of this particular system, I figured this was different and worth a try.
REALLY interesting video about Hydrogen-On-Demand. It's about welding, but it shows that you absolutely can extract combustible hydrogen from water. Very good objective information. (9 min.)
How are today's HOD systems different from those that have come before?
First of all, it's worth noting that the basic technology used in Hydrogen-On-Demand systems has been in the public domain for decades. In other words, anyone who has the time and ability can go online to the library, research the information and use it in any way they want. But, most of the earlier versions of this documentation is often very detailed and technical, making it really hard (if not impossible) for the average driver to interpret it. That's one of the biggest reasons the huge potential of HOD has remained untapped for so long.
The biggest thing that makes today's systems different is their simplicity. Motivated entrepreneurs who understand that huge potential have invested the time and energy to break it all down and come up with designs that are almost idiot-proof. Literally, ANYONE can use this technology. It truly is possible for an average driver, with very basic skills, to assemble and install one of the current models in the course of a weekend. Also, the design technology has been around long enough now that a number of creative entrepreneurs have come up with ready-to-install units that you can buy over the internet. The combination of information and availability of materials works together to truly simplify the acquisition and use of these systems.
The second thing that makes these systems different is the evolution of the HOD as a "supplemental" fuel rather than a primary fuel. In the early days of Hydrogen-generating technology, the emphasis was on generating enough hydrogen to be the primary fuel source. In fact, there are some very promising advances that make that approach a real possibility in the near future. But that approach is expensive to make and too complicated for the average user.
On the other hand, if you only want to generate enough hydrogen to supplement the engine's gas usage, that's a whole different challenge. Today's HOD systems are more than capable of accomplishing that task. The combination of electrical power from the car's battery and the alcoholysis that occurs inside the units produces more than enough hydrogen to improve the combustibility of gasoline. And keep in mind, today's gas engines are only 25% efficient. It doesn't take a lot of hydrogen (which burns hotter and cleaner than gas) to improve the overall efficiency of the gas burning.
There are many HOD products available. Some cost an arm and a leg (as in HUNDREDS of dollars!), but there are plenty of sources that are more reasonably priced. Some units are sold as proprietary items that you buy already assembled. If you need tech support or replacement parts, you have to go back to the original manufacturer. Other products are basically the plans
The truth is, HOD is actually pretty low-tech, not some kind of cutting-edge idea from tomorrow. You can build your own, completely reliable HOD device using stuff that you buy at the local hardware store and supermarket. Of course, you need simple instructions and easy-to-find parts, but anyone who can sew on a button can assemble one of these devices. You just gotta have the right info!
What exactly is the “product” you are promoting?
Strange as it may sound, my "product" is the possibility of Hydrogen-On-Demand. You see, we must do something about the high cost of gas and the devastating impact of being addicted to oil. We must do something about the TONS of carbon emissions we are pumping into the atmosphere every day. Every knowledgable person in the world agrees that we are on a collision course with disaster if we don't deal with the status quo.
But, in spite of these dire warnings, NOTHING OF CONSEQUENCE is being done. Maybe it's because the hundreds of billions of dollars of oil revenues have hijacked our leader's integrity. Maybe it's because the task of converting our infrastructure away from oil is so incomprehensible that nobody knows where to start. Maybe we're just a bunch of lazy butt-holes that don't want to be bothered by the truth. Whatever the reason, or reasons, nothing is being done on a grand scale.
And so, we common citizens face a dilemma. Do we just sit by and let the powers that be do what they have been doing for the past 100 years and hope it all turns out. Or do we try something different. Granted, one person can't change the world, but hundreds of thousands of people can. And HOD is finally a way for the average person to stand up to the status quo.
And the really good news is that, not only is it possible to impact this insane addiction we have, we can each reap huge benefits along the way. I'd love it if everyone who read this was inspired enough to install HOD because they cared about the future of the planet. But I'll settle for everyone who reads this installing HOD because it will save then hundreds of dollars a year.
And so, I promote Hydrogen-On-Demand. Now, this isn't a completely altruistic endeavor. I do make a commission if you purchase one of the products I'm always talking about. But, the way I see it, if ya gotta make a living, why not make it doing something that just might save the planet. And by the way, if you should decide you want to make your living that way also, you can.
Assuming I’m interested in what you’ve said so far, what’s the next step?
