Researchers from the University of California, Merced and Stanford University have determined that EVs charged on biomass-fueled electricity emit far fewer GHG emissions than ethanol-fueled cars. The researchers examined the life cycle of plant-based electricity and ethanol technologies to find which delivered more transportation per acre; they found that biomass electricity provided about 80 percent more miles per acre. Part of this result can be chalked up to the internal combustion engine’s inefficiency, but EVs still only emit one-half the total GHG of ethanol-fueled cars.
“We found that converting biomass to electricity rather than ethanol makes the most sense for two policy-relevant issues: transportation and climate,” says co-author David Lobell of Stanford’s Program on Food Security and the Environment. “But we also need to compare these options for other issues like water consumption, air pollution, and economic costs.” The results of their study will be published in the May 8 edition of Science.
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The photo shows a jatropha plantation.