SEPTEMBER 14, 2001 - Director Kathleen Wilbur announced today that the Michigan Department of Consumer & Industry Services (CIS) has awarded a $5,000 energy grant to Kettering University to improve the use of ethanol in snowmobiles.

Kettering University will use the $5,000 grant to modify a Yamaha snowmobile engine to run on E-85, which is a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, and participate in the 2002 Clean Snowmobile Challenge. The snowmobile will also be featured at community events and the 2002 Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) World Congress. Project results will be shared in technical papers and presentations.

The purpose of the 2002 Clean Snowmobile Challenge is to showcase snowmobiles, which are designed by student engineers to reduce emissions and noise while equaling or improving upon the performance of commercially available snowmobiles.

“Michigan has a significant number of snowmobile users so our state benefits from this type of research because current levels of snowmobile emissions can pose serious environmental and health risks,” Wilbur said.  “Many National Parks officials have discussed limiting the use of snowmobiles within their parks due to high emissions.” 

Last year, CIS’ Energy Office Michigan Biomass Energy Program was a major sponsor of Kettering University’s participation in the 2001 Clean Snowmobile Challenge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The team placed second with a modified Daihatsu-powered 4-stroke snowmobile in four events: emissions, presentation, sound level, and the hill climb. The four-stroke technology, used by many of the entrants in the competition, has demonstrated potential to reduce combined emissions by 97 percent versus the standard sled.

“Kettering University is making great advancements in ethanol research in vehicles and snowmobiles so the State of Michigan is proud to be a supporter of their projects. There are many advantages to ethanol fuel, which can be produced domestically to keep more profits in our communities, provide more employment opportunities and reduce our dependency on foreign oil,” Wilbur said. “These economic benefits will be extended to Michigan farmers as a corn-to-ethanol plant is expected to begin production in our state in 2002.”              

CIS has also presented a $35,000 grant to Kettering University last year for development of hydrogen technology for ethanol vehicles. CIS has awarded grants to Kettering University in 1998 and 1999 to fund its team’s participation in the National Ethanol Vehicle Challenge.

For additional information, contact Dr. Greg Davis, Kettering University mechanical engineering associate professor, at 810.762.9886 or Jan Patrick, of the CIS Energy Office at 517.241.6153.

Read more Michigan Department of Consumer & Industry Services press releases.