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Michigan Department of Consumer & Industry Services Director Announces $10,000 Energy Grant to Kettering University to Improve Use of Ethanol in Snowmobiles

8 November 2000

Michigan Department of Consumer & Industry Services Director Announces $10,000 Energy Grant to Kettering University to Improve Use of Ethanol in Snowmobiles

    LANSING, Mich., Nov. 8 Director Kathleen Wilbur announced
today that the Michigan Department of Consumer & Industry Services (CIS) has
awarded a $10,000 matching state energy grant to Kettering University for
improving the use of ethanol in snowmobiles.
    Kettering University will use the $10,000 matching grant to participate in
the 2001 Society of Automotive Engineers Clean Snowmobile Challenge and
optimize a snowmobile engine to run on E-85, which is a mixture of 85 percent
ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.  There are over 2.3 million registered
snowmobiles nationwide with over 278,000 of the snowmobiles in use in Michigan
alone.
    "Michigan has a significant number of snowmobile users so our state
benefits significantly 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 recently discussed limiting the use
of snowmobiles within their parks due to high emissions, including Pictured
Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan's Upper Peninsula."
    Kettering University's project will demonstrate the potential decrease in
snowmobile emissions from using ethanol blended fuel.  Currently, snowmobiles
with conventional 2-stroke engines, emit 36 times more carbon monoxide and 98
times more hydrocarbons than an automobile.  Using ethanol blended fuels may
be one solution to decreasing emissions as using E-85 in automobiles has been
shown to reduce unburned hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 58
percent.
    The grant was awarded by CIS' Energy Office, which also presented a
$35,000 matching grant to Kettering University this 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.
    "This grant highlights the State of Michigan's commitment to ethanol
research, a 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.  "Soon these economic benefits may be
extended to Michigan farmers as a corn-to-ethanol plant is currently being
planned and should be under construction soon."
    Michigan snowmobiles could provide a significant market for the plant's
ethanol production since it is estimated they use over 33 million gallons of
fuel per year.