An Aucklander, Simon Cape, who has reportedly powered his house by using solar energy, is now fuelling his car with water. His house featured on New Zealand television and in local newspapers. He has reportedly reduced his domestic power bill down to a mere NZ$55.00 per month and even sold excess electricity back to the national grid.
His latest project is also potentially controversial in its claims, something previously written off on the internet as scams; it has featured in a recent television news program here.
He claims to have modified a small hydrogen gas-making kit to fuel his Honda CRV and has slashed his petrol bill by 20% with just a capful of water per week.
While he actually discovered the concept of using hydrogen to supplement petrol 20 years ago, it has only been in recent times with petrol prices here in New Zealand soaring through the roof, he has give further thought.
He recently surfed the net to establish what technological advances had been made in the last two decades.
An electrician by trade,he imported a hydrogen gas-making device from the US, and applied a bit of Kiwi ingenuity to the task. While the finished kit owes more to No 8 wire than high tech, he has a glass jar filled with distilled water, with several wires attached alongside the engine of his car.
It allows a very small amount of electricity to be taken from his car battery to change the water into HHO gas(2 parts hydrogen to one part oxygen)which is then fed in with the fuel, something that reduces petrol use.
The driver of the car has the option to switch between full fuel petrol and the hydrogen supplement. In principle this is similar to the CNG and petrol concept.
Simon Cope claims the advantage of the kit is its easy installation, its cost effectiveness, and lack of any known negative effects on the car's engine.
He told a New Zealand Sunday newspaper he had been testing the kit(which he has named Water for Petrol) for the last two months. He is also selling the kit for NZ$350.00 and has 60 prospective customers. The greater the number sold will enable a better test result.
After reading the original article about Simon Cope's hydrogen water kit, I believe things need to be put into perspective - in what will be an evolutionary process, hydrogen gas is a supplement not a full substitute as many people believe. I can't speak with any authority about internet advertised hydrogen gas alternatives, but the NZ kit is a creditable work in progress and in the public domain. A progress report is anticipated in coming weeks, which should be reported by television and other media.
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Contributor's Note
A creditable alternative fuel option being tested here in New Zealand.
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