GETTING THERE: Hydrogen: The answer to our energy needs?

Jesus turned wine into water, the Bible tells us.

Now, according to numerous Web sites, we mere mortals can turn water into gas. And it doesn't require a miracle - just $69.95 for an instruction booklet, some cheap tubing and a Mason jar. It's the "best-kept secret the energy lords have been keeping from you," says one site.

Hardly, said John Wilkes, a professor of chemistry at the Air Force Academy and a researcher in the fields of hydrogen and hydrogen fuel cells.

"There's no big mystery here," he said.

These come-ons promise to show you how to create a microscopic amount of hydrogen by shooting a current of electricity through water stored in a jar under your hood. The electricity decomposes water into oxygen and hydrogen atoms in a process called electrolysis.

The hydrogen created by electrolysis, called Brown's gas, is routed to your engine and burned with gasoline. Proponents say users can double, even triple their gas mileage. "Laugh at rising gas costs!" one seller trumpets.

Actually, the guy who pockets the $69.95 from you will be the one laughing, said Wilkes.

"It's not a hoax. It's real. It's just not practical," he said. "What proponents ignore is the second law of thermodynamics, which says you can't get anything for free."

Wilkes explained electricity sent through the Mason jar of water to free hydrogen atoms is generated by the car's alternator. That energy is produced from the mechanical energy of the belt turning the alternator. And where does the energy come to turn the belt? The combustion of gas in an inefficient engine.

Wilkes said if the Internet hawkers were truthful - or if they did careful enough measurements - they would find more energy is expended by the motor to turn the alternator than the energy produced by the minuscule amount of hydrogen.

"Every energy transformation is less than 100 percent efficient," Wilkes said. "Electrolysis is more efficient than many, but it's way less than 100 percent."

Still, Wilkes is a huge proponent of hydrogen. In fact, he thinks it will be the answer to the world's energy needs.

"Hydrogen is going to be the fuel of the future," he said. "Per pound, it has two to three times the energy of gas. That's why everyone is fascinated with hydrogen."

But for that future to happen, he said, scientists must solve two major challenges: Hydrogen gas is dense and requires a large volume of space to store. And, he said, scientists must find a way to electrolyze hydrogen without the inefficient step of burning fossil fuels to create the electricity that frees the hydrogen atom.

The Holy Grail, said Wilkes: harnessing the sun's energy through direct solar power to create hydrogen. Yes, the second law of thermodynamics would still apply, but the energy is essentially limitless.

"There is no energy shortage," Wilkes said. "The sun provides way more energy than we would ever use."

Consider, he said: It's estimated all the power used by humanity in any one moment is 13 terawatts (one terawatt is a trillion watts). The sun generates a continuous 250,000 terawatts of energy.

"There's plenty of energy," he said. "We just need to be able to store that energy to put into things. I'm very optimistic it's going to happen."

But it won't be solved by a weekend warrior making hydrogen in his driveway. That's right. Drop the Mason jar and step away from the vehicle, sir.

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Tell me your commuter tales. 636-0197 or bill.mckeown@gazette.com