Air-powered motorcycle
The air bike is a realityHow does the idea of an air-powered motorcycle sound? Too good to be true? A whole load of hot air?
Well, yes. Compressed air, that is.
As the video shows, the air-powered motorcycle is in fact a reality, as these Indian engineering students and their groupies prove. British and Taiwanese inventions have also been produced that allow lightweight mopeds to trundle along at pedestrian speeds.
The idea is inspired: bikes that run on compressed air, emitting nothing but oxygen as they rocket past at 15km/h. However the reality is that a pizza-powered motorbike is probably more viable.
Firstly, the bikes run on compressed air so and compressing air requires energy. Therefore this 'fuel' is far from green as it requires some other power, probably derived from a coal-fired powerplant in the form of electricity, to compress the oxygen into sealed tanks.
Secondly the compressed air tanks provide a limited range, at this stage claimed around 10km at the most, and that's with a pair of fairly large cylindrical tanks. With top speeds that most cyclists could reach, you have you question the practicality of such motorised transports. However if the technology improves it could become a more viable, and much less polluting, way to get around.
And if we're lucky we may see the pizza-powered bike rumoured to be in development in Poland.
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