Zoomi Life

So you’re zipping down the highway in your new, sleek, hydrogen-powered ZeroFuel car and you suddenly see the fuel gauge glowing red.  Uh oh.

Well, no matter.  Those two cups of coffee and that 44oz Big Gulp you had and that are coming back to haunt you will save the day.

How?

Because the hydogen-powered ZeroFuel can use the ammonia that makes up a large part of your urine to make more hydrogen.  That’s how.  And you thought that the only time to pee in someone’s car was when you were drunk or the radiator needed refilling.

No Adam Sandler quotes, please.

The ZeroFuel is being designed by Steven Amendola, a chemist whose company Alternative Fuel Sciences, is developing the concept.  The car is an X-Prize entrant, though I’m dubious as to whether it will actually be in the race itself as anything more than one of the concept showcases that haven’t been built.

Ecologically, the idea is pretty sound.  Sociologically?  Well, that’s something else.

Regardless, here’s how the process works, for those interested:

Urine contains a lot of ammonia, as I said.  For the gardener and composter, the idea that it’s full of nitrogen is well established. That nitrogen comes from the ammonia when it breaks up in vapor form.

Ammonia contains a lot of hydrogen (NH3 - nitrogen, hydrogen).  The ZeroFuel takes the ammonia’s natural tendency to vaporize and out the tailpipe comes water and nitrogen.  After a somewhat complicated separation process and other proprietary things that are the secret behind the ZeroFuel take place, of course.

ZeroFuel has three different entries in all three classes of the XPrize competition.  Should be interesting.