Re: Is there a substitute for auto gasoline ?

There are definitely alternative fuels that cars can run on. Unfortunately, water is not one of them. You may want to read this ques tion in the archives that discusses using water for fuel in a car. Maybe sometime in the distant future, we'll master fusion (how the sun produces it's energy), and then we'll be able to use the hydrogen in water as a fuel source. But right now, that’s more science fiction than science fact.

It's possible what you are thinking of is fuel cells. The fuel cell is an up and coming technology that can use gasoline to produce energy, but it does it through a different type of chemical reaction, not combustion as it is used in vehicles today. This type of reaction only produces water as a byproduct instead of the many types of harmful emissions associated with the internal combustion engine. There are many web sites you can visit to learn more about how fuel cells work and there benefits. Here are a few:

Fuel Cells 2000
Electro-Chem-Technic
Fuel Cell World

There are also other types of fuels that can be used in automobiles as well. Current alternative fuels include liquefied petroleum gas (predominantly propane), alcohols (methanol and ethanol) and natural gas (predominantly methane). Here’s another good site you can visit to learn more about alternative fuels:

U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Alternative Fuels Data Center

Hope that helps you!

Your Mad Scientist,
Mike Scannell