A few weeks ago, my NSTP teacher, Sir Chino, announced his verdict on what our task would be this final grading period. He gave us two topics to base our term paper on: the first was "Energy Conservation" and the other was "Alternative Fuel". After he said those words, I instantly knew what Im gonna write about. I know I won't have to eenie-mini-mini-moe between the two topics because of one person and his invention.
It all goes back years ago when I was still in high school. One time, I was watching the news with my mom about an old man who invented a car that runs on water. I remembered squinting my face secretly because I was awestruck at how exaggerated my mom reacted at the news. She was sooooo happy and proud on how intelligent the Filipinos are. She always saw much potential in Filipino inventors.
I did not care much then, because as a teenager, I thought I had better things to do like talk on the telephone with my friends, finish the slum book my best friend kept nagging me to finish, watch Dawson's Creek, read Sweet Valley High pocket books or Archie comics....stuff like that.
Last 2002, my sister bought an Automatic Toyota Revo for my mom and my dad. I remember during my college days when my dad used to drive me to school and then pick me up after class hours. It was nicer than having to commute, I have to admit. You don't have to squeeze yourself inside the jeepney while the maniac beside you tries to steal a touch of your "you-know-what" (right, ladies?) or because the jeepney driver is driving way toooo fast; so fast that it makes you grit your teeth and clench onto the steel bar of the ride hoping that it's not your last day on earth.
Life was good then. You wouldn't even notice that there's economic crisis. Our gas tank was always, always full. Gasoline was still cheap that we go joy riding many times in a week.
But as time went by, situations changed. Political crisis went out of hand. Oil prices started hiking making the economic crisis go climbing a notch after another. As a result, Filipinos have to tighten their belts to cope up with the increasing demands of economic life. And it was then when people like me started to realize that issues like this should have an impact on everyone regardless of age, gender, race and such.
Years have passed and the problem is still the same. OIL. Yes, there were times when it has fluctuated down to lesser price ranges but, it still isn't the ideal. People are still burdened that they are now asking for change. Are the things the government doing really enough to truly solve this problem? What about other means to alleviate if not possible to end the oil problems?
This is where the essence of this blog post enters. The one person and his invention who crossed my mind when Sir Chino mentioned alternative fuel. The person my mom and I were watching on t.v. one time on the news when I was still a teenager.
The main man: Mr. Daniel Dingel.
Mr. Daniel Dingel, who hails from La Union, is known around the world for his great invention. An orphan boy who was given opportunities for a predominantly technical education by Americans in Clark and Subic when he was a lad. He created this car since he was around 40 or 50 years old but it was only in the mid 1990's when the Filipino people sensationalized the issues that went along with his invention: The Daniel Dingel Water Car.
In his website, it is stated that "this car is not a fuel-cell car. Fuel cell cars like the new Honda FCX Clarity uses hydrogen gas to produce electricity in a fuel cell, and it is this electricity that powers the car's electric motor. Also, fuel cell cars are reliant on hydrogen that is pre-extracted using costly methods.
Contrary to its name, Dingel's car does not burn water. The inventor claims to have designed a process that efficiently maximizes on-demand hydrogen extraction from the electrolysis of ordinarily-available water. It is the hydrogen gas that his car burns directly in the engine's combustion chamber. The extraction process being on-demand, Dingel's car does not store hydrogen gas onboard in quantities that pose an explosion risk.
Dingel admits that his invention in its early years relied on around 30 cc (mL) of gasoline to start the engine and during idling, but he emphasized that those early prototypes switched to hydrogen once running. Today's prototype is a dark red Toyota Corolla that no longer needs gasoline to start the engine." http://danieldingel.com/watercar
He made a reactor that is able to separate hydrogen and oxygen to run the engine of the car. Water is then poured into the reactor and if you start the engine, it will bubble up and then oxygen and hydrogen will separate which then will make the car run. Pretty easy huh? But then the complexities are hidden and only known to the inventor, of course.
To be able for us to understand more about Mr. Dingel and really visualize how his water-fueled car works, I embedded a youtube video showing a documentary made by a person by the username of whenisnow2.
There's a lot of people questioning this invention. According to Julius Babao in his blog post, even people from "the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) criticizes Mr. Dingel's water-powered car and have branded him as a "loony" and dismissed his invention as a hoax".
http://juliusbabao.multiply.com/journal/item/68/MEETING_DANIEL_DINGEL_WATER-POWERED_CAR_INVENTOR
Mr. Dingel also said on J. Babao's interview that he presented his invention to a number of Presidents, but only one expressed interest; Pres. Joseph Estrada. The former president was prepared to issue a memorandum that would recognize Mr. Dingel's technology for the benefit of the Filipino masses, but unfortunately, he was ousted even before he could sign the documents.
In my point of view, this is not a question of Mr. Dingel's integrity. It is about the government not being able to grant patent and recognition to his invention because of a great power play happening. The government gets big revenues from oil companies, hence, they cannot support Mr. Dingel's invention. It's all about the money.
I think the problem here isn't whether the invention is verifiable or not. It seems that when there are people who present ideas that could help, there are no rooms for them. Our problem is not really economical. It's political.
Another is that, if an invention is perpetually functional, meaning to say, a product that people will only buy once because it functions for a very very long time, factories will lose a big amount of money. No factory will ever make a product that people will buy only once in their lives...Where the hell is the income on that?? Same goes for the water powered car. Why would the government put money in a product that will not generate income for them? As I've said, its always about the money. But even if millionaires, or billionaires for that matter, decide to fund Mr. Dingel's invention, how is it gonna be mass produced if the patent-giving body doesn't want to give patent due to conflict of interests?? (-sigh- this is sooo d@*# frustrating...hehehe.)
Further more, because Mr. Dingel stands on principle that the ones who should benefit from his invention are the Filipinos, so even if he has already acquired an international patent, he doesn't want to sell it to foreigners for mass production.You can't blame the man. It's his principle.
So, that's why up until now, there are still no water-fueled car driven on our streets.
It is sad because today, Mr. Dingel is now 80 years old and still fighting a chance for his invention to get recognized. I just hope the old man will see the day when his invention gets patented and mass produced.
So for now, the Dingel Water Car has its patent.....still pending.
*In one of his latest posts, Julius Babao said that he had another meeting with Mr. Dingel and he said he might sell his invention to the international market, but they must accept his conditions that the companies that would buy his invention should employ atleast 200 Filipino workers.
