Entrepreneurs of America have invented or discovered untold process and products that have improved the quality of life all over the world.

More oil, more wind power, hybrids, more nuclear, and more and more — trying to meet the energy demands of the world. We need to solve what I believe to be one of nature’s greatest secrets. Seawater is H2O and we all know that two of the ingredients of combustion and power are hydrogen and oxygen. If we could release the energy of H2O, we could change the world.

My family was involved in the oil industry as Charleston Oil Co. for over 72 years and I remember well 50 years ago the fable from the 1920s or 1930s that passed around the industry. The story goes that a man somewhere around New Jersey claimed that he had invented a substitute for gasoline and called a news conference of the media and representatives of the major oil companies to be held on the Atlantic shore somewhere around Atlantic City, N.J.

The morning of the news conference, the man welcomed all the dignitaries and asked them to inspect inside his tent pitched near the water’s edge and also, the gasoline internal combustion engine that he had mounted outside the tent. After examination, everyone there agreed that the engine was dry, with no fuel connected to it, and, that the tent was clean and had no fuel of any kind within. The man told the group to stand back and he took a bucket down to the waves and filled it with seawater. He went into the tent, closed the flap, and had a guard positioned at the entrance.

A few minutes later, the man came out of the tent, poured some liquid into the small tank on the engine, started it up and it ran smoothly for a long time. He then dismissed the news conference and told the oil executives that if anyone was interested in his invention, he would meet them at his hotel room in the morning.

The morning came and went and the man had disappeared without a trace. The prevailing thought was that the oil industry was willing to do anything to save gasoline as the primary fuel for internal combustion engines — even to intrigue, mystery and disposing of competition.

This may be a fable, but entrepreneurs, America is calling you. The secret of releasing the energy in seawater may be one of the greatest discoveries of the human existence. And now we face the threat of sea-level rise. Is that another sign of nature telling us to find a use for this extra gift of seawater?

Most experiments with seawater involve desalination, and expensive process, but is that necessary? Perhaps the salt, sodium chloride, holds the secret to producing hydrogen and oxygen from seawater. The oceans are the world’s most abundant resources.

It is a known fact that seawater holds so many trace elements that taken in small doses can give flexibility back to people crippled with arthritis. (My mother was proof of that). It can help all kinds of ailments caused by the lack of trace elements. And maybe it can be the combustion fuel for the future.

Calling all entrepreneurs and inventors!

— Thomas E. Thornhill, Former VP-Treasurer, Charleston Oil Co. Charleston

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