We are a team of science undergraduates that have a distaste in paying the current high prices for gasoline. While this feeling may be near universal, the thought of not worrying about the price at the pump is looked at as merely an ideal. We hope to change that.

What if an engine could be designed and built that runs entirely off of the oxygen in the air?

While this premise sounds too good to be true, it actually exists. A LACE (Liquid Air Cycle Engine) was a candidate for use in spacecraft, but was a problematic attempt to produce a better propulsion system for rockets. The reason behind this is that due to the immense amount of energy needed to propel a large rocket out of the atmosphere. In order for this to work, a spacecraft would have needed to spend a longer time in the lower atmosphere in order to gather oxygen to power the engines.



A spacecraft engine in a car?

Well, in a sense. Making a much smaller LACE is conceptually workable. The oxygen rich air in the lower atmosphere is abundant. This means that a car would no longer pollute the air with so many harmful toxins, but rather would take in oxygenated air, and leave water, nitrogen and carbon dioxide as byproducts. Filters could then ensure that the CO2 and nitrogen are not released.



Like the idea?

Heres how you can help:

Please donate whatever you can to this project. Updates will be posted often so you know the progression of our research.

Copyright © Andrew 2008