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There's a good chance you have some ethanol in your car or truck's gas tank.
That corn-based fuel has served as a building block for future generations of biofuels.
University of Minnesota biofuels expert, Jason Hill, talks more about what these new biofuels are
and the enormous potential they hold for the future of renewable energy.
What was the initial inspiration for this research, or what question were you trying to answer?
We wanted to look at the current generation of biofuels -
corn ethanol, for instance - compared to proposed next-generation
technologies made from
cellulosic sources or biomass sources, such as grasses or agricultural residues.
And in this research, we looked at air pollution consequences as well, primarily from fine particulate
matter that's formed in the air
from burning fuels.
How does this study build on previous research that your team has done?
Previously, we've looked at primarily the greenhouse gas emissions
of biofuels compared to fossil fuels,
looking at everything from the emissions that occur in producing the biofuels
to looking at the consequences of land use change or clearing native lands
or using existing farmland for biofuel production.
What were you surprised to learn as a result of this research?
We found that cellulosic ethanol
has a much lower cost to society than gasoline or corn ethanol,
both from the greenhouse gas standpoint
and the air pollution standpoint.
How do you think this research will impact biofuels policy, either at the state or federal level?
We showed that
these next-generation biofuels can be very beneficial
from a human health standpoint as well,
so it points out to policy makers that
if you produce biofuels in the right way,
you can get more benefits than we previously thought.
So where does the research team go from here? What are the big questions that you're trying to answer next?
We have two major areas that we're looking to explore. We want to look
into expanding the number of fuels we consider, to looking at biodiesel,
to looking at electricity produced from renewable sources,
and compare that to fossil fuels as well as first generation and second generation biofuels.
And we also want to expand the number of environmental factors that we look at.
We've done greenhouse gas emissions and fine particulate matter component of air pollution,
but we want to look at ozone formation, for instance,
or pollution affecting waterways.
In one or two sentences, what would you say
is the take-away message from this research?
The take-away message it that it's in society's best interest
to move to second generation biofuels, away from our first generation biofuels
that are made from food and feedstocks,
and it's in society's best interest, not only from a greenhouse gas perspective,
but also from an air pollution and health quality perspective.