A public demonstration bringing together hundreds of people under a huge tent at Djoko Suprapto's mansion in Ngadiboyo hamlet periodically erupted in big applause Thursday.

It was an auspicious moment for the 48-year-old Djoko, a man of dubious educational background, to prove in public his controversial "blue energy" invention was no hoax.

Before starting his demonstration, Djoko clarified reports saying his "invention" could turn water into fuel. In fact, he said, it wasn't blue energy but rather "an alternative energy" 70 percent water and 30 percent diesel.

"I have been trying to increase the water portion to as high as 90 percent," said the host, who looked tired, possibly from staying up for a shadow puppet show overnight at his residence.

Djoko, who has rarely appeared in public after he failed to honor his promise to demonstrate his creations to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last month, somehow managed to impress his guests, who were mostly journalists and laymen.

He managed to show that the fuel he created was able to power a generator. Earlier on Wednesday, he had also demonstrated the wonder of his invention to his guests that included local military chief Lt. Col. Crysetyono.

Before he started Thursday's demonstration, he excused himself, went into the house to change and reappeared in black attire.

As Djoko started the long-awaited demo, all eyes were set on a red rectangular box -- the infamous "Jodhipati" -- which Joko said could power an electric drill and light up bulbs using his fuel. With six 1.5 volt batteries attached, the drill and lights did indeed start up and then remained working after the batteries were removed a few minutes later. The generator is able to produce 10,000 watts of electricity, according to Djoko.

"After the generator starts, it doesn't need an external source of energy. It will work independently," he told his audience.

Knowing his public expose was a "success" he became agitated. He turned to M. Toriq, an academic representing Yogyakarta's Muhammadiyah University, which used to finance his research, and shouted at him, "Toriq, please explain all this to the audience and don't dare to intimidate me and never call me a liar again."

"Touch the inside of this box and see if you can get electrocuted."

Visibly tired, Djoko briskly left the audience and went back to his house, complaining he felt ill.

"He wants to be left alone," an assistant said.

Muhammadiyah University recently declared Djoko's "invention" a hoax and filed a police complaint to regain the Rp 1.5 billion it had spent on the research. The university's rector Khoiruddin Basyori resigned this week over the scandal.

Toriq said he was the one who asked Djoko to conduct the demonstration for the public and journalists.

Acknowledging he was impressed, Toriq said he would ask Djoko to let all the equipment be tested by scientists from such institutions as the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan) and the Agency for Research and Application of Technology (BPPT).

"I thank him for granting our request for a public demonstration," he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

State Minister for Research and Technology Kusmayanto Kadiman, one of Djoko's critics, was among those invited to the show but he could not make it.

To many people's dismay, Djoko had suddenly moved the showing from 2 p.m. to 9 a.m. This was attributed to the absence of many high profile figures he had invited, but also raised suspicion that he did it to avoid enquiries he did not want to answer.

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