Biomass best for power plants to fuel electric cars
Spotlight Contact:
John B. Ohlrogge, ohlrogge@msu.edu
According to a group of researchers led by MSU Professor of Plant Biology John B. Ohlrogge, simply using new types of biofuels in the same old internal combustion engine may not be the best antidote for the rising costs and environmental damage associated with petroleum.
Instead Ohlrogge and his colleagues* say in a recent Science magazine article that using biomass to produce electricity at power plants, then distributing that to battery-driven vehicles “captures more biomass energy and provides more vehicle miles than converting it to ethanol or other fermentation products.”
The researchers suggest that while electricity offers the greatest advantages for smaller vehicles, diesel is now a better fuel than ethanol or gasoline for large trucks, buses and trains.
To read the full article on line, click here.
* Michigan State University: Department of Plant Biology and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center - John Ohlrogge, University Distinguished Professor; Doug Allen, visiting assistant professor, Yair Shachar-Hill, professor. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dean DellaPenna, professor. University of Minnesota: Forestry Program, Natural Resources Research Institute - Bill Berguson, program director. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences: Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology - Sten Stymne, professor.