Will Salt Water Replace Fossil Fuels & Solve the World's Energy Crisis?

Many of world's great discoveries -from x-rays to penicillin- where made by accident.

Did someone accidentally invent a machine that could solve the gasoline and energy crisis plaguing our planet?

Sanibel Island resident John Kanzius wondered if his background in physics and radio could come in handy in treating the cancer attacking his body. Kanzius, 63, invented a machine that emits radio waves in an attempt to kill cancerous cells while leaving normal cells intact. While testing his machine, he noticed that his invention did something else—it burned salt water.

John Kanzius happened upon the discovery accidentally when he tried to desalinate seawater with the radio-frequency generator he developed for the purpose of treating cancer. To his surprise, he discovered that as long as the salt water was exposed to the radio frequencies, it would burn. This discovery has scientists around the world excited by the prospect of using salt water, the most abundant resource on earth, as a fuel.

This unexpected breakthrough is "the most remarkable in water science in 100 years," according to Rustum Roy, a Penn State University chemist, who has now independently verified the phenomenon at his State College lab.

The radio frequencies act to weaken the bonds between the elements that make up salt water, releasing the hydrogen, Roy said. Once ignited, the hydrogen will burn as long as it is exposed to the frequencies, he said.

"This is the most abundant element in the world. It is everywhere," Roy said. "Seeing it burn gives me the chills."

Roy will meet this week with officials from the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense to try to obtain research funding. Scientists want to find out whether the energy output from the burning hydrogen — which reached a heat of more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit — would be enough to power a car or other heavy machinery.

"We will get our ideas together and check this out and see where it leads," Roy said. "The potential is huge."

Posted by Rebecca Sato