Establishing Biofuel Metrics

Biofuels have the potential to provide a clean, sustainable and affordable supply of renewable transportation fuel. In order for this potential to be realized, candidate feedstocks, farming practices and technologies must be identified. The purpose of our project is to establish a set of metrics that can be used to quantifiably evaluate biofuels. Presently there is no widely accepted framework for analyzing different biofuels. Our goal is to establish a transparent, credible and comprehensive set of biofuel metrics. We plan to establish metrics for: (1) Cost per ?standard? mile (psm), (2)Net renewable energy per acre. Corrected for differences in engine efficiency, (3)Potable water use (psm), (4) Environmental impact on water quality (psm) (5) Environmental impact on air quality (psm) (6) Food production displaced (psm)(7)Adverse impacts on bio-diversity resulting from changing use of any land or water (psm)(8) Percent of sustainably available feedstock required for 10% of the U.S. demand. The metrics focus on the entire chain of use including growth, harvest, transport, conversion and distribution. We are presently focusing on establishing metrics for 4 fuel types: Soybeans to biodiesel, Biomass to biodiesel, Corn to ethanol and cellulose to ethanol. The process of establishing these metrics will lead to a better understanding of current knowledge gaps. We will present our metrics in a transparent format to highlight key assumptions, knowledge gaps and areas for improvement.