Most people know the name Aaron Salter Jr. because of the way his life ended—as a hero. On May 14, 2022, the retired Buffalo police officer turned security guard stood his ground against a mass shooter at a Tops Friendly Market. He fired. He hit the target. But because the attacker wore military-grade body armor, Salter’s bullets didn't stop the rampage. He lost his life protecting others.
But there’s a whole different side to Salter that usually only gets brought up in conspiracy theory circles or deep-dive technology forums. This wasn't just a guy who wore a badge. He was a legit inventor. A tinkerer. A scientist who spent his retirement and his spare time obsessing over a problem that has baffled engineers for a century: how to make a car run on water.
The AWS Hydrogen Tech Breakthrough
Salter wasn't just "dreaming" about water-powered cars; he had a company. It was called AWS Hydrogen Technologies. If you look up his patent (US20160025000A1), you’ll see it’s not some magic trick. It’s actually a very specific method for using the by-products of electrolysis.
Basically, the guy was trying to solve the "sludge" problem.
When you run electricity through water to pull out hydrogen and oxygen (electrolysis), the process eventually creates a sort of dirty byproduct or "sludge" that gunk’s up the machine. Most inventors just try to get rid of it. Salter did the opposite. He figured out a way to capture that sludge, agitate it, and turn it into a gas that could be fed back into the engine to boost efficiency. He claimed this little tweak increased the energy efficiency of the electrolysis process by about 60%.
Honestly, that’s a massive claim.
In a 2015 video that’s still floating around the internet, he showed off his Ford F-150. He’d start it up with regular gasoline, but once the engine was warm, he’d flip a switch. Suddenly, the truck was running on hydrogen pulled directly from a water tank in the back. You've probably heard people say "water is the fuel," but that’s technically a misnomer. The water is the carrier. The hydrogen is the fuel. Salter was just trying to find a way to make that extraction happen in real-time while the truck was moving.
What the Skeptics Get Wrong
You’ll find plenty of people on Reddit or in physics departments who will tell you that a "water-powered car" is impossible because of the laws of thermodynamics. They aren't wrong. It takes more energy to pull hydrogen out of water than you get back from burning the hydrogen. It's a net loss.
But Salter wasn't claiming to have broken the laws of physics.
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He was looking at it from a practical, "how do we stop using so much gas" perspective. His goal was a hybrid-style system where the hydrogen supplemented the internal combustion engine. He wanted to make a kit. Something you could bolt onto a generator, a boat, or a motorhome. He even appeared on Shark Tank (or at least pitched for it, depending on who you ask) to try and get the world to see the potential.
The tragic irony is that people now use his invention as "proof" of a conspiracy. They say he was targeted because he "knew too much" about free energy. Let's be real: the FBI and local investigators were very clear. The attack in Buffalo was a racially motivated hate crime. Salter wasn't killed for his patent; he was killed because he was a brave man who chose to fight back.
The Legacy of the AWS System
If you’re interested in the tech, Salter’s work sits in a weird, fascinating space between "garage inventor" and "legitimate alternative energy research."
- The Electrolysis Cell: His system used a cooling mechanism to stop the water from boiling, which is a common failure point in these DIY setups.
- Sludge Utilization: This is the "secret sauce" in his patent. By treating the byproduct as a resource rather than waste, he was trying to bridge the efficiency gap that kills most hydrogen-on-demand projects.
- Practicality: He wasn't building a futuristic spaceship; he was working on a 15-year-old Ford truck. He wanted tech that regular people could actually use.
We see a lot of talk about "Green Hydrogen" today, where massive solar farms power giant electrolyzers. Salter was trying to shrink that whole factory down to the size of a toolbox. Was it perfect? Probably not. But he was doing the work.
Actionable Insights for Tech Enthusiasts
If you’re looking into hydrogen-on-demand or the Aaron Salter Jr invention, here is how to approach it without falling down a rabbit hole:
- Read the Patent: Don't rely on TikTok summaries. Look up US Patent 2016/0025000 A1. It lays out the exact plumbing and electrical flow he was using.
- Understand the Energy Gap: Realize that "running on water" still requires a battery or an alternator to provide the initial spark for electrolysis. It’s a conversion process, not a "free energy" machine.
- Support Local Makers: Salter was a "Jack of all trades." He taught kids chess, he played bass in church, and he built engines. The best way to honor a guy like that is to keep tinkering.
Aaron Salter Jr. was a man of many layers. He was a 30-year veteran of the Buffalo Police Department and a hero in his final moments. But he was also a guy who looked at a jug of water and saw a way to power the world. That's the legacy worth remembering.