Jul. 9--Mark, is there any truth in this e-mail going around about water power?

Thanks, Roy Musick Bristol Virginia Roy, the short answer is yes, there is truth, but not the whole truth. For everyone else, Roy is referring to an e-mail he forwarded to me that includes a short video of a news report about a Florida man who developed an alternative energy source using water. Rather than post the video on our Web site, here is an Internet address for it: www.metacafe.com/wat ch/128967/water_as_fuel/ I actually found it at other sites via a Google search, using "water fuel" as the search words. So, for readers who don't have online access, I'll try to describe what the video contains.

Reporter Craig Patrick opens the piece by showing Denny Kline lighting what looks like a welding torch, and the reporter says the tip is only slightly warm to the touch. But when the flame is turned to a brick and various metals, it burns through with a "flame that's hotter than the surface of the sun," Patrick says. Kline then says the source of the alternative energy is water -- and electricity, which breaks down the water molecule through electrolysis. So the H2O molecule becomes HHO gas, "with the atomic power of hydrogen and the chemical stability of water," Patrick explains. He goes on to say Kline invented the gas to cut metals and replace volatile acetylene gas.

Then the video switches to a car which Kline powers with his invention. "On a hundred-mile trip it uses four ounces of water," he says. I was able to track down the reporter who did the piece -- Craig Patrick of Fox 13 News in Tampa, Fla. He was familiar with the report, and I wasn't the first to contact him about it. It turns out the version circulating on the Internet isn't the entire report Patrick prepared. His was about four minutes and the Internet version is roughly 21/2 minutes. "The version on the Internet is edited or cut down from what I did," he said. "It cuts out some important points, and it may make it sound more like water fuel than it really is." Patrick said he wasn't sure if the Internet version was edited by another Fox affiliate or by someone else.

Also, he said he has no idea where Fox 26, the logo that appears in the lower right corner of the video, is located. Patrick said he did the story about a year ago, and not long after, he became aware of the Internet version. "He does not use it to power a car. It's not used as fuel ... He uses it as an additive that goes into the gas to increase its efficiency, and it increases the mileage by 20 to 40 percent. It makes better use of the energy," Patrick said. He said Kline is working to have his invention independently tested -- a costly endeavour -- to legitimize his claims. Patrick said the federal government has tested it but hasn't yet verified any of the claims and a group of scientists at University of South Florida could not prove or disprove it, but determined the theory was "plausible." Patrick said he learned that changing the molecular structure of water is nothing new but the process takes more energy than is produced, so there's no net gain.

Kline's invention takes a slightly different approach with his use of electricity. Kline had patented his invention and is negotiating with an automaker, but Patrick said the real potential is as a home heating source. Thus, the adage "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" comes to mind. But, realizing regular guys are out there in garages inventing environment-friendly technology that could change the world is encouraging. At the same time, it's an eye-opener to realize that the technology of the Internet can be "the wild, wild west," as Patrick called it, when it comes to disseminating information.