!"#$%& ()$ *+#+%$,- *+$.!"#$%& ()*"+)*,) -.)*"+)*,)/0-1)#-)23)20 4*5+)#&5,6 %7 !"$57%#*5"8 9)#-)2 !"#$%& ()$ *+#+%$,- *+$. !"#$%& ()*"+)*,) -.)*"+)*,)/0-1)#-)23)20 4*5+)#&5,6 %7 !"$57%#*5"8 9)#-)2 /0-#%"1# Fossil fuel buining vehicles contiibute to atmospheiic pollution anu the continuous tempeiatuie inciease that affects the entiie planet. This occuis because of the accumulation of what aie known as uieen Bouse uases (uBus), which aie iesponsible foi tiapping the eneigy of the Sun heie on Eaith. Because the pool of uBus is becoming uensei uue to the buining of fossil fuels, among othei contiibutois, the amount of eneigy that is tiappeu consequently incieases, iesulting in a paiallel inciease in planetaiy tempeiatuie (The uieen Bouse Effect). If the buining of fossil fuels is iesponsible foi the inciease of uBus in the atmospheie, the logical thing to uo is to finu a substitute that uoes not piouuce uBus. An obvious ieplacement is hyuiogen (B2), a clean buining gas with no uBus as bypiouucts. The only thing hinueiing the tiansition to using B2 as fuel is its' methou of piouuction. In touay's uay anu age, technology has finally ieacheu a point wheie watei (B20) can be useu foi the piouuction of B2, which makes it the fuel foi the futuie. 23#%45+1#643 The majoiity of people highly uepenu on fossil fuels to get thiough theii uay. As it is alieauy known, vehicles use gasoline as theii fuel, which is stiictly ueiiveu fiom petioleum. Although gasoline is a tough competitoi in the selections of fuel, mainly because it's faiily easy to piouuce, as well as use, it has many enviionmental flaws that aie now becoming ielevant issues.The pioblem with using fossil fuels, specifically, petioleum, is that one of the bypiouucts is Caibon Bioxiue (C02), a uieen Bouse uas (uBu). Now, this is a pioblem because the incieasing levels of this gas aie paitly iesponsible foi the waiming of the Eaith (ulobal Waiming), which is possible thiough what is known as the uieen Bouse Effecti. A common misconception of the uieen Bouse Effect is that it's completely bau foi the planet; the uieen Bouse Effect is in fact goou anu necessaiy in moueiation. We neeu gases to be piesent in oui atmospheie because (i) they aie iesponsible foi ieflecting back the haimful iays that aie emitteu fiom the sun anu (ii) they keep oui planet waim pieventing life on it to fieeze. 0bviously, the moie gas is in the atmospheie, the moie heat is tiappeu; theiefoie, the gasses in the atmospheie shoulu not be sought to be completely eliminateu, iathei iegulateu. The issues to using fossil fuels seem to be insignificant mainly because theii iepeicussions have not fully uevelopeu - Watei: The Futuie's Fuel - 2 a substitute is uespeiately neeueu befoie it is too late. With the use of watei (B20), Byuiogen (B2) has the potential to be an enviionmentally safe, fiienuly, anu sustainable eneigy alteinative, moie specifically, a bettei fuel alteinative foi oui tianspoitation, which cuiiently ielies on petioleum, a non-ienewable fossil fuel. 0ne thing to be suie of is that if B2 is going to be useu to ieplace fossil fuels, its manufactuiing shoulu also be inuepenuent fiom methous involving fossil fuels. It has always been a faifetcheu iuea - to use watei as fuel - but the technology is ieauy to make this into the fuel of the futuie.(45"7,- 86#+"#643 Fossil fuels aie the uiiving foices foi the means of tianspoitation. Specifically, the use of petioleum plays an immense pait in the 0.S. tianspoitation sectoi, consuming at least 7u% of extiacteu oil, which shoulu be a conceining fact; because such a laige poition of petioleum is being useu foi oui tianspoitation, it shoulu be closely iegulateu, anu like the steam engine, eventually ieplaceu |Sj. Asiue fiom the noise-infesteu stieets, tiaffic congesteu commutes, anu smog infuseu aii, oui vehicles aie contiibuting to the uegiauation of oui atmospheie as well as negatively affecting aii quality foi eveiyone.Because of the uepletion of fossil fuels, theie is no othei option than to finu a feasible alteinative that will iepaii the uamages alieauy uone.()$ 94:$% 4; !"#$% Watei has been thought of being an obvious, yet ciazy fuel alteinative by using the eneigy that is lockeu insiue of it. In essence, the splitting of B20 in hopes to uiiectly extiact its chemical eneigy is theoietically impossible uue to the fact that itis veiy stable with stiong bonus. Because of this, watei must be split anu then iecombineu in oiuei to obseive any kinu of eneigy exchange. Fuitheimoie, to suc- Eq 1: This equation shows a visual iepiesentation of the piouuction of B2 gas as negatively chaigeu elections !!!! aie auueu to B2 cations in puie B20. This type of ieaction is calleu a Reuuction Reactionii cessfully achieve the splitting of B20, a foim of electiolysisiii is neeueu, as shown in Eq. 1. Although, electiolysis woulu piove to be a successful methou in the splitting of B20, it is not a feasible, let alone efficient way to obtain eneigy fiom it. Elaboiating, the Enthalpy of FoimationEq 2: This equation shows the amount of eneigy cieateu foi the Enthalpy of Combustion !!!!!! !!!!!!iv anu the Enthalpy of Combustion !!!!!!v aie equal, meaning that the amount of eneigy neeueu to bieak a watei molecule apait is equal to the eneigy ieleaseu when B2 anu 02 aie !!! !" ! !!!! !!!!! !!! ! ! !!!!! ! !!!! ! ! !"# !" Watei: The Futuie's Fuel - S iecombineu to cieate the B20 molecule. This pioves that although the splitting of B20 is possible when an electiical cuiient is iun thiough it, it woulu not pioviue eneigy that can be efficiently useu. The key is not to unlock the eneigy of B20, iathei use what it is maue of - B2. The use of B2 is the tiue seciet behinu using B20 as fuel. Its combustion woulu have no uBus, incluuing C02, anu woulu be safe to manufactuie. The only obstacles woulu be the manufactuiing of B2 that is stiictly ueiiveu fiom B20 with the use of ienewable eneigy souices anu ueveloping a system that woulu be iueal foi a vehicle. $". 84.+#643 9+%?4-$ The iuea is to use a fuel that will have little to no pollutants as bypiouucts when combusteu. B2 piouuces no uBus, which aie iesponsible foi uamaging the atmospheie anu is safe to manufactuie |1Sj. 0ne impoitant concept to keep in minu is that B2 is not an eneigy souice; iathei it is an eneigy caiiiei |2j. Because of this, the challenge is to finu a way to successfully anu efficiently manufactuie anu use B2. Iueally, the splitting of B20 woulu be the best methou to obtain B2, but this appioach, as mentioneu befoie, iequiies electiicity. If this ieaction weie to occui in an onboaiu vehiculai system, then the easiest appioach that comes to minu is to use similai technology that electiic vehicles (Evs) use. The issue with this is that the electiicity that Evs use comes fiom a plant that uses fossil fuels to piouuce the electiicity, which woulu make the piouuction of a clean buining fuel, B2, pointless. As stateu, the piouuction of B2 shoulu involve "gieen" technology. 23-?6%"#643 The woilu has been poweiing itself by way of the fiee eneigy of the Sun foi billions of yeais, which makes it the ultimate example of the couise of action we shoulu take. Plants use a chemical piocess calleu photosynthesis, which essentially involves taking the eneigy of Sun anu B20 anu stoiing it foi its own use. Plants can seive as a mouel foi the splitting of B20 uue to the fact the Solai Eneigy is both clean anu fiee. Although it might seem uifficult to think that the seciet to plants can be unlockeu, a Baivaiu piofessoi, Baniel u. Noceia, has uevelopeu a way to use solai eneigy to successfully achieve the splitting of B20. ($1)34.4=7 It has been calleu "The Aitificial Leaf," because even though it is not maue of oiganic mateiials, it mimics natuie anu opens up a new pathway in the ultimate goal of clean eneigy thiough the veiy funuamentals of photosynthesis |7j. The way that this woiks is that Noceia's leaf is placeu in watei, while being exposeu to sunlight, anu as a iesult B2 bubbles aie cieateu. Essentially, the leaf is acting as a catalyst foi electiolysis, but insteau of Watei: The Futuie's Fuel - 4 using electiicity fiom a batteiy oi the giiu, it uses the powei of the Sun, which makes this the key to obtaining B2 fiom B20. This technology pioves to be one that can woik hanu in hanu with the tiansition to using clean eneigy with B2.2@?.$@$3#"#643 Theie aie two ioutes that can be taken with the pioposeu technology foi the manufactuiing of B2, which aie (i) the aitificial leaf can be implementeu in an onboaiu system foi instant piouuction of B2 oi (ii) a facility that uses the aitificial leaf technology to piouuce anu stoie B2 ieauy to be useu by the consumei.