With a bit of knowledge in mechanics and a lot of fantasy, a Brazilian civil servant has created, in his garage in São Paulo, what he calls the “Moto Power H2O”.

In a hybrid test I did, it travels over 500 km per litre of water.

Ricardo Azevedo has transformed his 1993 Honda NX 200 into a kind of water-powered motorcycle. The bike uses a car battery to produce electricity, and by the process of electrolysis, separates hydrogen from water molecules.

The inventor Ricardo Azevedo, explained: “This device breaks apart the water molecules transforming it into oxygen and hydrogen. The hydrogen comes out in larger quantities and then I use this hydrogen to run the motorcycle engine.”

Six months since the launch of his “concept motorbike”, with added tests and improvements, Azevedo believes his project can help in the reduction of pollution.

Instead of carbon monoxide coming out of the exhaust pipe, it is water vapour.

Azevedo said: “This motorcycle is run on hydrogen taken from water. And in a hybrid test I did, it travels over 500 km per litre of water.”

To test his homemade technology the Brazilian inventor used different kinds of water, such as distilled and drinkable water, and even water from a local polluted river.

Ricardo Azevedo said: “To my surprise, the polluted water from the Tietê River worked as much as the clean water. So, now I use the polluted water as fuel in my motorcycle.”

University of São Paulo mechanical engineering professor Marcelo Alves appreciates Azevedo’s straightforward and simple concept.

He said: “Every sort of new device or any work has to be considered with every respect. I mean, I have all respect to this sort of people that out of concern start tinkering with the things they have at home and then came up with something that works.

“The only thing is that we need to inform the public that there is no magic bullet to solve the energy crisis…

“I mean, what is happening is an electrical vehicle, it is not running on water, it is running on electricity on the battery. But we need to commend the efforts of everyone at home that is concerned and maybe we need to provide help so they can fully develop the vehicle…”

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in our universe; however on the Earth’s surface, pure hydrogen gas is relatively rare, because it is so light.

We usually see hydrogen on our planet bound together with other types of atoms, as commonly happens with oxygen in water.

Research into hydrogen combustion power has increased over the past few years and several car makers are keen to release vehicles based on this principle.

While not run directly on water, the Moto Power H2O is heading in the right direction.

However, the potential market is still limited until a way to safely contain and use the flammable hydrogen gas is fully developed.