[Vwdiesel] Burning water?

[James Hansen]

Rolf Pechukas wrote:
>>> that's exactly the kind of thing that Mother Nature does allow, if
>>> you are lucky enough to find the key
>>> time will tell if these guys have found it
>> Such as?
>>
>> -james
> 
> 
> oh, let's see
> such as:
> 

-snip-

> so, what IS the actual potential FUEL energy of water?

492.215 kJ/mol O–H bond dissociation energy.  You can tear it apart and 
put it back together all day, and have the same energy in and out. 
(conservation of energy and all).

> I don't know how strongly oxygen and hydrogen are bound together in  
> water

Very strongly.

> or how much energy might be released by reacting the elements separately

with what? Elements do not react separately, they react with other 
elements to form compounds. Before you can do so, you have to tear them 
apart first, then you have potential energy equivalent to what you 
invested to get them apart (less inefficiency losses). Combine it with 
something else, you still get no more energy back than you stuck in.

> or whether such a reaction could produce a net energy gain, or be  
> self-sustaining

No reaction is self sustaining.
you still have to grow trees (solar collectors) so the caveman can go 
gather wood, to throw on the fire, liberating the energy contained in 
the bonds made with sunlight in the chloroplasts of the leaves.  The 
chloroplasts tore apart a oxygen-carbon-oxygen bond using energy from 
the sun, raising them to a higher energy level, then bonded the carbon 
to itself and hydrogen to store that energy in a stable state.  Burning 
the wood releases the energy stored in the C=C bonds (substantial) and 
the C-H bonds (less so) making C02 again.

> 
> but certainly other (plentiful on planet earth) forms of matter have  
> shown themselves to be susceptible to such advantageous  
> recombinations - why not water?

Because it is an oxide of hydrogen, oxides have already given up their 
energy, you might as well be saying "Why can't I use ashes as fuel?"
It has been burnt (oxidized) already, and you have what's left, burnt up 
shit, ashes, devoid of free energy because it can not go to a lower 
energy state via a change in the stable dipole bond holding it together.

-james