The Izaak Walton League Of America has stated in a recent report that Water Pollution is a grave danger to us all. They say that in 1989, when the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, spilling nearly 11 million gallons of crude oil, this was the largest tanker spill in United States history.It is estimated that oil-burning outboard engines and Personal Water Craft (PWC) in the United States spill 15 times more fuel into waters each year than the Exxon Valdez did. In Michigan alone, which boasts the country's largest boating industry, it is estimated that more than 200,000 gallons of fuel may leak into the state's waterways in a single weekend. And scientists have determined that millions of gallons of unburned fuel are released annually by PWC engines into the Great Lakes waters.

The fuel is not spilled or leaked literally, but is discharged during engine use. Conventional two stroke engines discharge 25 to 30 percent of their fuel unburned directly into the water. That is one gallon out of every four gallons used. With consumption rates as high as 10 gallons per hour for PWC's, about two and a half gallons of unburned fuel may go into the water each hour  -  or 50 to 60 gallons annually, based on less than an hour of usage per week.

WATER POLLUTION

PWC's also release large quantities of hydrocarbons into both the water and the atmosphere. Other gasoline constituents emitted by PWC,s into the water include carcinogenic benzene, toluene, and xylene. Michigan State University research indicates that the toxicity of such discharges is made 50,000 times worse by the ultraviolet light of the sun. Because of this and MTBE, which is a class C carcinogen, several water quality agencies have restricted use of two stroke watercraft on many waterways.

AIR POLLUTION

It has been estimated that outboard engines and personal watercraft engines create nearly as much atmospheric pollution as all the cars in the United States. Two stroke engines, which are found on 75 percent of all boats and watercraft, cause 1.1 billion pounds of hydrocarbon emissions per year in the United States. According to the California Air Resources Board, emissions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide from these engines in California alone amount to approximately 777 tons per weekend day (150 grams per kilowatt hour per engine) in the summer. This is 50 percent more than the exhaust coming from all passenger cars on California roads on a typical weekend! This excessive pollution is due in part to the design inefficiency of the two-stroke motor that has essentially remained unchanged since the 1940's.

NOISE POLLUTION

PWC's emit 85 to 105 decibels of sound per unit.The United States Park Service limits are 82 decibels at 82 feet. 

THE AMEMCO POSITION

While AMEMCO does not claim to cure all of these problems with their new, highly efficient electric outboard drive systems, they certainly hope to make some huge inroads. Their product pollutes neither the air nor the water, and it is essentially noise free. They can produce the thrust necessary to compete with gasoline engines of up to 15 HP with almost no maintenance costs, and with fuel savings that will more than cover any cost differential for the average user in the first year. While top speed cannot compete with the gasoline engine at present, they hope to be able to compete even at higher speeds with the advent of better and less expensive fuel cells that are currently being developed.

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