Friday, May 08, 2009

Bioelectricity and liquid biofuels can work together

This study discussed at the link below finds it more efficient to generate transportation electricity from biomass rather than making the biomass into liquid biofuels for transpotation use. I don't doubt this, but I would suggest a combination is still the best in the form of a flex-fuel plug in hybrid. Without a huge an expensive battery array, a purely electric car simply does not have the range to satisfy most consumers. A small biofuel-powered engine running at a constant speed could extend the range quite efficiently. It would also allow quick refueling at fuel stations on long trips.
Also, I doubt the study considered direct injection of high octane biofuels. In this way, a small amount of ethanol or biobutanol can be leveraged to increase fuel economy tremendously. It only requires a small second fuel tank that would be filled infrequently. I suspect it would rival the efficiency of biomass electricity. It would be interesting to see that comparison.
Bioelectricity More Efficient than Ethanol for Transportation, Study Shows : Gas 2.0

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