Engines running on water

[Treehorn]

Apparently scientists and inventors have been trying this for years.

My questions are as follows.

Isn't this going backwards as the steam age is long gone or are there new technologies which use the same principles but in a more effective way?

If someone does find a way to work an engine using only water, how and who is going to regulate this as water is free?

[beso]

Engines can run on water unless that water is heavy water and the engine used nuclear fusion.

Water consists of strongly atoms of hydrogen and oxygen. Essentially that is hydrogen burnt in oxygen. There is no chemical energy to extract.

You might just as well try to make an engine run on carbon dioxide. That is carbon burnt in oxygen.

Indeed both carbon dioxide and water are the products of combustion of burning hydrocarbons in oxygen. Exhaust products not fuels, not ever.

[beso]

Engines cannot run on water ....

[aelmpvw]

water is free? not according to my bills from severn trent

[sunny-dave]

San Pellegrino is dearer than petrol ...

[Graham-W]

Perhaps what you have heard is about the "Hydrogen Fuel Cell".
The fuel cell converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process it produces electricity to drive machinery like a car or motorbike. Of course, the hydrogen needs to be extracted from water in the first place, usually by electrolysis so you don't get something for nothing. You just move the pollution from the cities.

[MarkRae]

There are certainly cars which run on hydrogen...

[Old_Geezer]

If they were ever to pull it off, got more power out than one put in at sufficient quantity to be useful, then why would it need regulating ? no doubt it would be, a tax on engine use or something, but that aside.
It's a nice dream. I'm not holding my breath but hope they find a working solution one day. In the meanwhile the issues of lack of power, especially in concentrated portable form, remain with us.

[McMouse]

Engines can run on water but the energy required is greater than the energy produced so it is not viable.

[andrew1707]

There has been research (see link) into creating petrol out of Carbon Dioxide and water using electricity. This may be inefficient but it creates a fuel that can use the existing petrol station infra-structure and existing car engines.

This is not free fuel; it still needs energy in the form of electricity to create it but could be a much better solution, in the short term at least, to converting over to electric cars. Perhaps when battery development is more advanced (and cheaper) electric cars will be a winner.

http://www.airfuelsynthesis.com/

[andrew1707]

and No! ... you can't buy shares in this company yet. I've checked.

[Teddio]

"the steam age is long gone". Coal-fired and nuclear power stations use steam as their working fluid. The working fluid in all jet engines includes steam and carbon dioxide. Of course an external source of energy must be supplied.
Water has strong O-H bonds. For a reaction to yield energy (exothermic) the average bond strength of the products must be stronger than that of the reactants.