M Christie and Mr Brits have been tinkering together on the motor in their spare time since they met in a Sheridan St cafe five years ago and began sharing ideas.

One and a half years ago the design was perfected and the pair lodged a patent with Brisbane patent attorneys Griffith Hack.

Mr Christie said the next step was to develop a small scale pilot plant in Cairns to begin distributing the motors to the places they were needed most - such as shops and homes in the power-starved Daintree region and the Torres Strait.

He said the price tag for the devices could vary in remote locations depending on Government rebates, freight and installation costs.

The beauty of the device was that it was transportable and could be packed in a removalist van along with other earthly possessions when moving house, he said.

The only problem the pair now face is in raising $500,000 to start their production plant.

"We're trying to keep it local, and trying to keep it in Australia, but it's hard because, offshore, they are more aggressive in taking up new initiatives," Mr Christie said.

Already the invention has received interest from the United States, China, Japan and Indonesia.

"But we want to set up here and put the product on the market first, and then we'll take it to the world," he said.

Mr Christie said it had been hard to keep a lid on the invention which had such a huge potential in the quest for clean, green, energy production.

He said he and Mr Brit also feared the worst once they realised the significance of their invention.

"We were afraid the kids would be kidnapped or we'd be shot, I'm not kidding," he said.

"You hear horror stories about people running up against fuel companies, but it's all hogwash - people in the main are desperately looking for technologies that will help our environment."

The pair have begun discussions with Ergon as their is also the opportunity of selling energy back to the grid.