A load of hot air
I’VE just been watching a fascinating documentary on the next stage of mankind’s space endeavours, which is NASA’S ambitions to send manned craft to Mars. In order to achieve that, it is believed the US will set up a space station on the Moon, where the first priority will be to extract water from the rocks and then convert that water to hydrogen and oxygen, which will be the fuel to power a rocket from the Moon to Mars. I didn’t even know there was water on the Moon, but apparently there is, in its rocks, and just waiting to be extracted. There may not be a lot, and it may take some time to harvest enough to propel a spaceship to Mars and back, but they’re confident they can achieve it.
Apparently the Moon will be the perfect staging post for setting off on the long haul to Mars, because of its weaker gravity, which means smaller rockets would be needed than the massive ones required to escape Earth’s powerful gravitational pull.
That’s all very interesting, but what really got me thinking was the plan to turn water into fuel. I suppose it’s logical, with every water (H2O) molecule made from two hydrogen atoms bonded to a single oxygen atom, but if it’s that simple, why don’t we do it here to power our cars, homes and everything else besides?
After all, Planet Earth is actually 75 per cent water, so there’s no shortage of the raw material. Better still, it’s carbon neutral. I’m told that burning oxygen or hydrogen produces – wait for it – water. So you just get back what you started with, with no dangerous greenhouse gases or nasty sooty particles to give us lung disease. Sounds like a no-brainer, to me.
Back in the 1960s and early 70s when the US last sent men to the Moon, the only fuel source with enough power to propel the mighty Saturn 5 rockets out of Earth’s gravitational pull was oxygen. Well, if it was good enough to send Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the Moon, then it’s good enough for me.
And what about hydrogen? That’s also got a pretty good track record as a fuel – after all, it fuels what is by far the greatest energy source in the solar system. We call it the Sun.
It all sounds too good to be true: an unlimited source of power that causes zero pollution. So why hasn’t it already happened?
I have no doubt the cost of the technology required to turn water into oxygen and hydrogen is considered too expensive – rather like the desalination plants that could convert saltwater into freshwater and eliminate the droughts that devastate the more arid parts of our world. The technology is there, but governments are loath to pay for it.
Please excuse my own naivety on this one: I genuinely didn’t know you could turn water into fuel. Hopefully one of our more knowledgeable readers understands the process and can explain to us how it works and why it isn’t already happening. But one reason it isn’t happening in the UK is because we have a government that prefers to plough vast sums of our hard-earned money into grandstanding projects that we don’t really need. The latest news is that the HS2 high-speed rail link from London to Birmingham is way over budget. Pencilled in to cost a not insubstantial £56 billion, it is now expected to cost £86 billion. And all to trim 30 minutes off the journey time for those rich enough to afford the tickets.
That’s right: you and me are paying a fortune for something we won’t use. We are subsidising the self-indulgent with more money than sense, who could get there at the same time by simply catching a slightly earlier train.
Meanwhile, the loyal customers of our railways who commute to work continue to pay small fortunes to travel in squalid, crowded conditions, while many rural areas have no public transport at all. In case you’re wondering, that non-existent public transport is the one we’re all supposed to hop on when we ditch our nasty, polluting cars.
Meanwhile, the politicians and the rest of the establishment that love to tell the rest of us what to do will continue to travel by chauffeured limos and private jets. Sadly, that appears to include those latter- day eco warriors the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It’s a case of do-as-i-say-not-as-i- do, I guess, but it’s a shame: for some reason I genuinely thought Harry and Meghan were different to the rest.
So will we all be driving round in hydrogen or oxygen-powered Land Rovers any time soon? Or even Land Rovers powered by electricity produced by oxygen and hydrogen? I’d love to think so, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.
“It all sounds too good to be true: an unlimited source of power that causes zero pollution. So why hasn’t it happened already?”
EX-LRM Editor Dave has driven Land Rovers in most corners of the world, but loves the British countryside best