ISLAMABAD, July 26: It once appeared to be a farfetched dream to see cars fuelled by water. But when Engineer Waqar Ahmad drove his car using water as fuel on Thursday during a demonstration for parliamentarians, scientists and students, it seemed to be possible.

The engineer said the cars could be driven by a system fuelled by water instead of petrol or CNG.

The demonstration left the observers astonished and a cabinet sub-committee praised Waqar Ahmad’s ‘Water Fuel Kit Project’ and assured him of full support in his innovative efforts.

Religious Affairs Minister Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah, who heads the cabinet committee, said the Sukkur-based engineer would have full support of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

He asked the ministry and the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) to study the feasibility of the project as soon as possible.

Waqar Ahmad had earlier apprised Mr Shah of his project and it was taken to the federal cabinet which asked its sub-committee to discuss it.

During Thursday’s demonstration the minister himself drove the car.

He said the engineer would get complete security and the formula would be kept secured. He said Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh highly valued the project.

“We own this project and are committed to successfully completing it,” he said.

Minister for Science and Technology Mir Changez Khan Jamali described the concept as a pioneering effort which could play a role in overcoming the energy crisis.

He said the technology would be this year’s Independence Day gift to the nation.

The minister said all required tests and experiments would be completed in two weeks and all stakeholders, including the PEC, National University of Science and Technology, entrepreneurs in the automobiles industry and researchers, were involved in discussions on the project.

The water fuelling system is a simple technology in which ‘hydrogen bonding’ with distilled water produces hydrogen gas to run a car engine. The technology will be considerably cheaper than CNG and petrol.