The 'Green' Snowmobile

One person's winter pleasure is another's noise pollution. Snowmobiles, which use engines similar to those that power motorcycles, can destroy a quiet winter day and pollute the air to boot.

"For this reason, there has been a recent move to legislate the use of these vehicles both in Canada and the USA," says Simon Ouellette of McGill University in Canada. "We are hopeful that we can build a snowmobile where these issues are not a concern."

Ouellette's team is working on an electric snowmobile. A prototype, shown above, uses batteries instead of fuel. A key hurdle is developing batteries that can withstand Arctic chill.

"Once we have the prototype, we can use the same technology for other vehicles," said McGill said engineering professor Peter Radziszewski. "A number of provincial organizations are interested in participating in this project and we continue to look for other partners."

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