# Water into Gasoline: yes, but is it possible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 26, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-into-gasoline-yes-but-is-it-possible/323525 "2005-09-26T17:36:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sequent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Sequent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sequent)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-into-gasoline-yes-but-is-it-possible/323525/1 "2005-09-26T17:36:06Z")
Regarding this week’s featured column: [Is there a pill that can turn water into gasoline?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_399.html) Cecil says: > [@](#): > > Guido was hauled into court a couple times, once in 1954 and again in 1979, on charges of fraud. He was acquitted the first time–the prosecution’s expert witness admitted it was possible Guido’s Mota fuel really worked. Really? Is this true? I would think that the easiest way to prove this guy a con would be to demonstrate, scientifically, that a coal-based product cannot turn water into gasoline. Or could it? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-into-gasoline-yes-but-is-it-possible/323525/2 "2005-09-26T19:33:54Z")
> [@Sequent](#): > > Really? Is this true? I would think that the easiest way to prove this guy a con would be to demonstrate, scientifically, that a coal-based product cannot turn water into gasoline. American juries are selected for stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-into-gasoline-yes-but-is-it-possible/323525/3 "2005-09-26T19:35:23Z")
It couldn’t. Water is hydrogen and oxygen. Gasoline only has trace amounts of water, as a contaminant. The main stuff in gasoline is basically carbon and hydrogen. Ethanol and other things that can burn kind of like gasoline do have some oxygen in them, but always at least one carbon for each oxygen atom. So in order to turn a gallon of water into gasoline, you’d need to add at a bare minimum an equal weight of carbon to the water. Plus, then you’d also need to add enough energy to break all the bonds in the water (and probably all the bonds in the carbon you added) and magically control a reaction so that all the carbons join the hydrogen and oxygen just right, rather than getting back together as water again (and, incidentally, exploding as the hydrogen burns). I could be more scientific, using words like enthalpy and free energy and bond strengths and so forth, but the bottom line is: No, it couldn’t. That ‘expert’ witness was either a moron, or victimized by a science-challenged court (my money is on the latter). ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-into-gasoline-yes-but-is-it-possible/323525/4 "2005-09-30T22:24:05Z")
Wait a minute. Gasoline is a clear liquid. Water is a clear liquid. How hard could it be to change one into the other? I mean…they look pretty similar, therefore they must BE similar! Seriously, you can’t change lead into gold by adding a secret ingredient, can you? Water is H20. Gasoline is CH3(CH2)nCH3. How do you turn the Oxygens into Carbons? Add carbon? Why not just burn the carbon in the first place instead of adding water to it? You can’t change Oxygen into Carbon. Yes, it is possible to create synthetic gasoline from coal, but you don’t add WATER to it, you add hydrogen, and it is a net loss of energy to convert the coal to hydrocarbon and is much more expensive than simply pumping hyrdrocarbons out of the ground. The only reason you’d do it is if you absolutely MUST run an internal combustion engine but can’t get any naturally occuring gasoline…like if you’re Germany in 1945. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-into-gasoline-yes-but-is-it-possible/323525/5 "2005-10-08T19:38:13Z")
Adding to this, my pee is yellow, beer is yellow, why can’t we change pee into beer? What a godsend. I can sure turn beer into pee soon enough. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-into-gasoline-yes-but-is-it-possible/323525/6 "2005-10-09T04:12:55Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > You can’t change Oxygen into Carbon. What do you mean? Of course you can turn oxygen into carbon! And have a little helium left over! All you need is a particle accelerator. The real testament to this guy’s genius is managing to condense one into pill form. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-into-gasoline-yes-but-is-it-possible/323525/7 "2005-10-09T04:38:14Z")
> [@Jake](#): > > Adding to this, my pee is yellow, beer is yellow, why can’t we change pee into beer? What a godsend. > I can sure turn beer into pee soon enough. That has already been done, on this very board, IIRC… ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-into-gasoline-yes-but-is-it-possible/323525/8 "2005-10-09T04:39:46Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > That has already been done, on this very board, IIRC… [Here it is](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=241904) ---
**Author:** ![WilhelmGefallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9f8e36/32.png) [@WilhelmGefallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilhelmGefallen)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-into-gasoline-yes-but-is-it-possible/323525/9 "2005-10-09T05:20:45Z")
I was going to suggest that turning pee into beer has already been successfully marketed by Corona 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-into-gasoline-yes-but-is-it-possible/323525/10 "2005-10-09T15:19:15Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > The only reason you’d do it is if you absolutely MUST run an internal combustion engine but can’t get any **naturally occuring gasoline** …like if you’re Germany in 1945. (Bolding mine) Where does one get such a product, by the way? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-into-gasoline-yes-but-is-it-possible/323525/11 "2005-10-09T16:59:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Where does one get such a product, by the way? Mixed in with a bunch of other hydrocarbons, in underground deposits. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-into-gasoline-yes-but-is-it-possible/323525/12 "2005-10-09T23:51:48Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > …like if you’re Germany in 1945. You can read a lot more about the production of synthetic crude [here](http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1981/jul-aug/becker.htm). Peak production was 36 million barrels per year in 1943.