Saving Planet Earth

Electric and hybrid cars are getting fast into the limelight as more and more people get concerned with the environment. That I say is a good thing. However, there are those who, for the sake of profit, try to oppose “green things” by spreading lies saying that hybrid and electric cars will cause more problems than solutions. Well that’s all they are - lies.

Fact is hybrid cars are very effective in defending this planet against global warming. So, how do hybrid cars help the environment? They help by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere as well by reducing our dependency on fossil fuels. They also help individuals financially by getting more mileage for each gallon of fuel used. Honestly, the only thing I can think of that doesn’t benefit from hybrid cars are the oil companies and the corrupt government officials who milk the oil companies for money.

Believe it or not, hybrid technology has been around for decades and we’ve been watching it on the news for a long time now. Is it a mature technology? By all means it is and the only reason why we’re not seeing it a lot is probably because governments around the world don’t want it to be seen - again for financial reasons.

Is it bad for the economy? Of course not! The only thing that it’ll damage are the personal financial gains of a few people who depend on the oil industry to sustain their vampire-like blood-sucking habits.

So I say let’s do our best to get rid or at least reduce our dependency on oil. Let’s go and convert our cars to hybrid! A couple of sites that might help you in this are:

• Burn Water - with Video
• Water Car Pro - with Video

Watch the videos on these sites and see water power in action.

Though I can afford to buy a car, I still haven’t decided to do so mainly for environmentally reasons. I keep on telling people that the car I want to buy is either an electric car or at least a hybrid. Problem is none of these two are being sold in my country at an affordable price which made me think. What if I just buy an ordinary gasoline powered car and convert it to a hybrid? The question therefore of how to convert a car to a hybrid came to mind.

I made a few searches online and found two different approaches. The more traditional method is to have a small electric generator installed to your car that charges a set of batteries while running on gasoline. When enough power is stored in the batteries, it then switches to “electric mode” by turning off the gasoline engine and switching on the electric motor. The problem with this is that there’s no way to do it easily.

The other method on the other hand can be achieved by installing a device to the car engine that extracts hydrogen from water and mixes the produced hydrogen with the existing fuel-air mixture. This approach is way lot easier and can be done by any experienced mechanic. The idea behind this method is based on the fact that hydrogen is a flammable gas that is abundantly stored in ordinary water. The beauty of this method is that it does not require much modification to the car that is to be converted.

There are a few who offer such a device on the internet. I’ve listed a couple below just in case you’re interested:

• Burn Water - with Video
• Water Car Pro - with Video

So, how do you convert your car to a hybrid? Apparently, it’s not that difficult. With proper knowledge, the right tools and some water, it can actually be done.

Who’s Daniel Dingel? Well he’s just another ordinary Filipino with a very extra-ordinary dream! 30 years ago, he created what I believe is the first water-powered car in the world only to find out that his government (which is also my government) won’t support him in his dreams because of some agreement with the IMF and the World Bank. He’s got an invention that works and holds lots of promise not just to the Filipinos but to the world.

Daniel Dingel and his water-powered car

It saddens me to hear that a German company is the one supporting him and not one of the huge Filipino companies. Nonetheless, kudos and thanks to Ethos World GmbH Schweiz - the German company who so kindly helped Daniel Dingel realize his dream. Through a strategic alliance between the Daniel Dingle Foundation and Ethos, Daniel was finally able to sell his products.

I think this is a wake-up call for Filipino inventors and investors alike. I think we should finally take action and not just reminisce in the success of fellow Filipinos. I think we should be pro-active in turning this third-world country called the Philippines into an economic giant.

But what can we do? Is that your question? My dear kababayans, there are a million things that you can do to help this country get up on its feet. No help is coming from the outside because we have all the help we need. You can start by changing the way you think.

One of the most common problems in electric cars today is the fact that an 8-hour charge can only travel about 40 miles. While that would suffice for city-driving, it’s not enough for most drivers. But those days may be gone pretty soon as a student from University of Delaware managed to create an electric that travels 150 miles for only 2 hours of charging!

According to Scott Baker, a graduate student of the University of Delaware said that this car will cost only 3 cents per mile of travel while typical gas vehicles would cost 10 to 12 cents per mile. That already is a good incentive to drive this electric car. It’s name is Scion and it costs $70,000 at the moment but mass production will probably lower the price dramatically.

Is the car a hybrid? No, it’s a full electric car that gets plugged into an ordinary outlet for charging. Part of the reason for its awesome 150-mile range is the fact that its brakes actually recharge the battery while driving. (Honestly, I’ve already been thinking about that before). An added prep is that you can use to make money because it also becomes a storage device for the power grid when you plug it in and you’d be surprised to know that the power companies would actually pay you to store their energy in your car until they need it. The income from that could add up to $2500 or more per year.

Umm, now where do I get one?

Click here for info on How to Build an Electric Car

Story based on NBC News