AN Industrial Design student from Australia thinks he's discovered a solution to reduce the use of fossil fuels, with a compressed air-powered motorcycle.

The '02 Pursuit' was designed and developed by RMIT Industrial Design student, Dean Benstead, creating a working prototype that uses air as an alternative source of fuel.

Benstead believes that the concept of compressed air has a role to pay in the future of transportation. "The concept evolved from research to sketches to computer modeling before the chassis and bodywork was built and fabrication at local manufacturer, Rinlatech Engineering, began," explained Benstead.

"I wanted to explore the viability of compressed air as an alternative fuel, and my childhood experiences riding dirt bikes led me to design the motocross bike based around the Engineair engine."

The air-powered bike is based on the geometry of a current 250cc motocross bike, using the running gear from a Yamaha WR240F and an Engineair DiPietro air engine as its powerplant.

In its current form, and under stationary test runs, the first prototype of the bike has hit speeds in excess of 100km/h (62mph) and with further development Benstead believes that the performance can be improved.

"The next prototype would involve a total re-style, different material choices over the current steel tube chassis, such as aluminum or even a futuristic printed titanium, reducing the weight comparable to a heavy-duty mountain bike."

The 02 Pursuit will be revealed in a working demo at the Sydney Motorcycle & Scooter show on November 25th.