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The Idaho State University design team, competing in the 2003 Clean Snowmobile Challenge Collegiate Design Competition, has developed a strategy to reduce the amount of harmful emissions common to two-stroke snowmobiles. The team designed a Low Pressure In-Cylinder Fuel Injection system to reduce the amount of fuel being short-circuited through the exhaust system. The system was installed on a 500cc Polaris two-stroke engine in a 2000 Polaris RMK chassis. Noise emissions were addressed by designing a muffler capable of dissipating more energy by way of damping materials and frequency attenuating techniques. Damping materials were added to the engine compartment and unnecessary vent holes were removed to reduce engine noise emitted.

The cost–effectiveness of using alternative fuels (AF) versus a conventional fuel (gasoline) in light duty vehicles is traditionally presented with a simple analysis on what can best be described as “one sheet of paper.” Unfortunately, oversimplification of the cost analysis can lead to extensive errors in the results and misleading cost and/or benefit conclusions. An extensive model for analyzing the costs and benefits of using alternative fuels has been developed which allows in–depth modeling of major characteristics of a single vehicle (or an entire fleet) which uses alternative fuel. Net present value (NPV) theorem financial modeling has been used to compute a true lifetime cost of ownership. An important output of the model is the required fuel spread needed in order to obtain a NPV of zero dollars, indicating that the savings resulting from using the alternative fuel offset the cost of the additional AF components.