Local entrepreneur Bob Squires is ready to start selling a product developed by a small company out of Blackfoot, Idaho, that he says is guaranteed to increase the fuel efficiency of a car by at least 15 percent -- and possibly as high as 80 percent -- by burning hydrogen in addition to gasoline.

'Just because you can afford a Hummer doesn't mean you have to spend so much more in gas,' Squires said of the HydroGen 1000, a car-battery sized product that generates hydrogen from water and then adds the hydrogen to a car's air-intake to burn gasoline more efficiently.

Squires, a sales representative for Hydrogen Innovations, the creator of the HydroGen system, is excited about the product.

But at least one local scientist is skeptical.

'You won't gain any net energy by injecting hydrogen into the air-intake,' said Michael Jensen, a professor of mechanical, aerospace and nuclear engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

'You are going to charge the car battery with standard electricity from the alternator. Yes, the hydrogen will burn, but you still have this whole inefficiency. I don't see how it benefits the system at all.'

Hydrogen Innovations Vice President Paul Arnette said the electrolyte used in the HydroGen 1000 is a different chemical formula than has been used in the past.

This one could create between 15 and 24 liters of hydrogen per minute.

Hydrogen Innovations is selling the Hydrogen 1000 for $1,250 including installation.

Contact Hydrogen Innovations at (208) 782-1180 for more information or e-mail burnh20fuel@yahoo.com  to schedule an installation in New York