Clean Snowmobile Challenge draws student teams to develop greener machines

Next month, four teams supported by the National Science Foundation will compete in the SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge in Michigan. The goal is to develop snowmobiles that leave less of an impact on the environment.

Driving the competition is a growing demand for cleaner snowmobiles. Just as off-roaders are getting shut out of recreation lands for a variety of issues, snowmobilers are finding fewer areas to play. Priorities of the competition include quieter, less-polluting engines that still offer performance. The NSF also sees potential for increased snowmobile use in very sensitive research facilities such as Greenland and Antarctica if the environmental impact can be reduced.

Winners of the competition will be allowed to test their snowmobile in Greenland.

[Source: National Science Foundation]

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