Ethanol Less Efficient Than Burning Wood for Electricity

A recent joint study by three California scientists — two from Stanford, one from the University of California, Merced — found that using an acre of corn for ethanol will create fewer miles of transportation fuel than would burning an acre of trees or switchgrass in a power plant to create electricity to charge the batteries of electric cars.

How much more efficient the acre of trees would be depends on a few factors, like the fuel efficiency of the internal combustion engine in question and the weight of the battery in the electric car, but the advantage never works out in favor of ethanol. For instance, a small electric SUV could go nearly 14,000 miles on the energy from burning an acre of switchgrass, while it would go only 9,000 miles on that same acre converted to grow corn for ethanol.

The scientists also noted that if the power plant sequestered its carbon emissions, the environmental benefits would be even more profound.

Is Farming for Electricity More Efficient? (Green Inc.)