Residents of Buenos Aires will agree that the thousands of buses hurtling around every street corner are quite a nuisance. Weekly reports of accidents accentuate how dangerous it can be to use these buses, but riding them is not the only danger to your health.
Many of the vehicles are old, and probably not roadworthy, leaving huge clouds of dirty smoke wherever they go. The air in Buenos Aires is far from clean, which doesn’t bode well for our lungs, or for the environment.
However, taking a look at Argentina’s second city, Rosario, people can breathe more easily. The city boasts a fleet of eco-friendly buses, which use a new type of fuel technology which reduces emissions of contaminating gases. Local company Las Delicias uses the buses, modified by two brothers of the family company Hidrógeno Solmi.
They now use biodiesel, which replaces up to 20% of petrol with water treated by electrolysis. It lasts for the same amount of time as an equal volume of standard petrol would. Consequently, less petrol is used, which means lower toxic emissions. The carriages are also ionized, which reduces the circulation of contagious infections amongst the passengers. Additionally, the batteries used by the bus are rechargeable.
The Solmi brothers don’t claim to be scientists and came across the idea through research. “Reading old books of mechanics we rediscovered a forgotten practice: the use of water in combustion motors to increase their potency,” they explain. “We didn’t invent the idea of using water as fuel. It was used by aeroplanes in the Second World War.”
Rubén Rodríguez, director of Las Delicias, was delighted with the project. “Our aim is that Rosario breathes purer air and it’s good for the city that there is less contamination.”
Other innovations
The brothers worked with the first hybrid-fuel ship, the Ice Lady Patagonia, replacing 30% of petrol with water. It did two months of research in the Antarctic without problems, and is now on display at Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires. The technology will also power rubbish collection vehicles in the capital. A deal has been struck with the British company, PLC, to help develop methods overseas to cut vehicle emissions, in accordance with the Kyoto agreement.
There are 740m vehicles worldwide, the majority of which are powered by the burning of fossil fuels which causes 18% of all carbon emissions. Scientists believe that petrol reserves will dry up by 2050, so the Solmi brothers’ invention will solve both problems simultaneously.
“We want to contribute our efforts to a world that is running out of fossil fuels, and whose very existence is threatened by the constant increase of greenhouse gases.”
Science
Jorge Bilbao Mendez, researcher of Environmental Engineering at Universidad Católica Argentina and Pennsylvania University, confirms the benefits of using hydrogen as fuel.
In the process of electrolysis, water is separated into hydrogen and oxygen particles. When they arrive at the combustion chamber they begin to burn together as gases. Hydrogen combusts at a higher temperature and with a faster flame rate than petrol itself, therefore this reaction is accelerated and more violent than normal. Power is increased and up to 20% of petrol is saved. The only waste given off by the reaction of the two gases is water itself.
Not alone
Hidrógeno Solmi is not the only company in Argentina that makes vehicles more eco-friendly. Hidroinyección Fioramonti is another company, based in Roque Pérez, Buenos Aires, that has discovered methods of saving petrol and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Company director, Jorge Fioramonti, also bases his innovation on the use of water, and the scientific principal behind it is the same as that of Hidrógeno Solmi. However, instead of the petrol already being treated, an installed device separates oxygen and hydrogen inside the engine. Inventor of the device, Jorge Fioramonti, did not realise that his creation also reduced contamination between and 70 and 85%. His initial intention was only to save petrol.
“At first it was to save fuel and not the environment. I didn’t know that it didn’t contaminate. One day a user told me something that had happened with his car. He had switched his car engine on in the garage, when suddenly the phone rang. Forgetting to turn it off, he left the garage and locked it up along with his pet birds. He realised about 45 minutes later and assumed that his birds were dead, but when he returned they were alive and there was no smell.”
A Dutch scientist later told him that he had created a ‘tree-car’, because it was remarkably giving oxygen out. Fioramonti then discovered another benefit that his system brought. He claims that a car’s engine-life is increased by up to 100% due to elimination of carbon waste which damages internal components.
The device can be used in any vehicle without the need to modify the engine, and Fioramonti has installed over 130,000. They are sold in all Argentine provinces and he sells licences abroad for their manufacture. The device only takes a few hours to install, and mechanics can be trained to carry out the simple operation.
The obstacles
If these scientific innovations possess such a capacity to reduce petrol consumption and pollution, then why are the Solmi brothers and Fioramonti not partners with all automobile companies? Fioramonti admits to be stumped by the question.
“I thought that everyone would support me, but it wasn’t like that. We’ll continue to fit the devices and sell licences, but it costs a lot to get the word out.”
Juan Bautista Cora, part of the Fioramonti project, gives an insight into why the innovations are not a roaring success.
“Firstly, it is difficult to change the mentality of old mechanics that distrust all new innovations. Talking about contamination and the environment is like talking to a wall. People take photos and then forget about it all. This applies to the government as well.”
He then suggests a more profound reason why everybody in the trade is not queuing up to use the technology.
“The truth is that such discoveries affect a lot of economic interests in the automobile industry. Electric cars were invented 15 years ago. Now they have disappeared. Why? If alternatives fuels were available, petrol prices would fall. This doesn’t interest the big companies. To think we could actually change history with our innovations is what really saddens me.”
Despite the current lack of support, the Solmi brothers insist on staying positive. They are negotiations to associate themselves with bigger companies. They intend to do the technical work, and leave the propaganda to the big fish.
“Lots of people don’t know how the system works,” they admit. “We are confident that our methodology will be passed by the United Nations, and in reality our project has only just started. Our moment is about to arrive.”
For more information on the new innovations, visit www.hidrogenosolmi.com.ar and www.motoresconagua.com.ar