New car is powered by water

Now that gas has passed $4 a gallon, there’s lot of chatter about alternative fuels, both for cars and RVs. The latest example comes from the Japanese company Genepax which claims that it's devised a system that consists of a fuel cell and a so called energy generator. The energy generator is claimed to consume water and breaks it down to hydrogen and oxygen which is fed to the fuel cell. While fuel cells are well understood and are known to work, the hydrogen generator is the issue.

As explained in an article from Reuters, hydrogen can actually be separated from water quite easily with no energy input. Just put a piece of aluminum in into some water and hydrogen will be release as the surface of the aluminum oxidizes. The problem, Reuters reports, is that such processes are not sustainable. Once the surface of the aluminum is fully oxidized, the reaction stops. After this, the material needs to be reprocessed so it can be used again. This part requires significant energy input. Genepax has not revealed details of its process, however it is believed to be along these lines. While the converted Reva electric car may indeed be able to run on water for a short time with no external inputs other than water, it's not clear how long that can actually happen. It may turn out that Genepax has come out with something revolutionary. More likely, says Reuters, "it is only showing part of the big picture right now and we aren't seeing the other part of the process that regenerates the energy generator."