Which BioFuel Produces the Least NOx?
by EcoGeek.org on 04. 9.07
There's more to environmental friendliness than carbon neutrality. And while biofuels certainly promise to reduce our world's carbon emissions, we've got to keep tabs on things like nitrous oxide emissions as well. This is exactly what folks at the University of Colorado and the USDA are doing.
Nitrous oxides (NOx) are greenhouse gases and contribute to poor air quality and smog. While all bio-fuels produce less NOx than fossil fuels, some are quite a bit better than others.
Gasoline produces 40% more NOx than corn and soy biofuels, 85% more than reed canary grass and 115% more than switch grass. Another, but somewhat underdeveloped source of biofuels, fast growing poplar trees, also hit the 115% mark.
So the lesson learned here is that we're just at the beginning of this journey. As cellulosic sources of ethanol become more economically viable, biofuels will become even more environmentally friendly.
::CNet Science Blog and ::ESA Press Release
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115% less? Was it producing negative NOx?
sequestering some in the soil, I suppose
Poplar rules. It is a pioneer species that inhabits landscapes barely suitable for agriculture - steep slopes, rocky glacial tills, outcrop filled ridges, etc. Therefore it is one of the few biofuel alternatives that does not compete for land with food crops. Poplar (aka aspen) will be the supreme energy crop for the US northeast.
re: 115% less.
If you read the article, it states quite clearly that switch produces 115% less NOx than does petrol gasoline, NOT a negative number.
I suspect they meant that gasoline produces 115% more NOx....You can't produce 115% less of something-- it is meaningless.
I still don't get it. You can't go below 0%. 100 - 115 = -15%.
Switch grass and prairie grass sod can sequester more CO2 into the soil than one can harvest off the top every year. Trees have the same tendancy.
Corn and mash processing for ethanol releases many VOx volitiles. Corn is a farce, not a force for making fuel. Switch to what creates a negative gain in CO2 emmissions and stop pretending that Monsanto Mutant Spliced, Round up dependant crops will ever matter.
If you read the article carefully, it says "Gasoline produces ... 115% more (NOx) than switch grass.". So, if switch grass produces 100 units NOx, gasoline produces 115% more, that is, 215 units. (215 is 115% more than 100).
If you change the relationship for the inverse relationship, of course, the numbers are different. This time, you have to say that switch grass produces %54 less NOx than gasoline (100 is %54 less than 215).
So, there is nothing meaningless in the article.