Matt
In Argentina, an 18-year-old student has successfully created a motorcycle that runs on saltwater as fuel. This is a promising and eco-friendly innovation.
Santiago Herrera is a young student living in Argentina. During a chemistry class, his teacher talked about the process of electrolysis, which involves separating the elements of a compound using electricity and is typically used to separate water molecules.
As part of a school project, Santiago Herrera drew inspiration from this method to design a motorcycle capable of running on saltwater. Titled “One Green Step at a Time,” Santiago’s project is very innovative and eco-friendly.
“My project consists of using saltwater or seawater to perform electrolysis by separating the molecules of hydrogen and oxygen,” he explained. “What we use as fuel is hydrogen, which has a high volatility compared to fossil fuels.”
Santiago’s invention is still in the prototype stage, but the student has already succeeded in creating a working model. As he funded the project with his own savings, he had no choice but to use glass for the motorcycle’s fuel tank. However, this material could be dangerous as it is prone to exploding.
“In the future, the motorcycle will have a tank that can withstand much more gas pressure and will have a direct injector into the cylinder, to better control the expansion of the motorcycle tank,” Santiago explained.
Indeed, if Santiago’s project were to be developed on a larger scale, it would completely transform the automotive industry. Using saltwater through the process of electrolysis to power vehicle engines would be much more environmentally friendly than relying on petroleum. It is an innovative and promising idea for the future.
