Science Online article says bioelectricity produces 81 percent better mileage than biofuels

In an article published in the online edition of Science, researchers from Carnegie Institution, Stanford, and the University of California-Merced conducted a lifecycle analysis on both bioelectricity and bioethanol technologies, and  concluded that it is more efficient to convert biomass to electricity in support of hybrid vehicles than liquid transportation fuels for combustion engines.

The research team found that a compact SUV powered by bioelectricity would travel 14,000 highway miles on the energy from an acre of switchgrass, compared to 9,000 miles from ethanol produced from switchgrass and burned in an internal combustion engine.

“The internal combustion engine just isn’t very efficient, especially when compared to electric vehicles,” Professor Elliott Campbell of UC-Merced told Science Daily. He cautioned though that the article deals with theoretical efficiencies. “Currently, at a commercial scale, we’re only beginning to explore these two different scenarios,” said Campbell, an engineering professor at the University of California at Merced. “In both cases, it really remains to be seen which technology pathway can develop quicker.”

The research team found that “Bioelectricity produces an average 81% more transportation kilometers and 108% more emissions offsets per unit area cropland than cellulosic ethanol.”  The article will be published in the May 22 print edition of Science.

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