Last week researchers at Stanford University published research in Science magazine indicating that using biomass — including cellulosic material — to power electric vehicles was more energy efficient than converting biomass to ethanol to use in internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

The researchers concluded that per acre of biomass, vehicles could drive 80 percent further using an EV than in an ethanol powered car. The study even considered the energy input into making the vehicles.

The findings again put ethanol — which turned from energy darling to villain within a few summers — in a negative light both economically and environmentally. Cellulosic ethanol is supposed to be the savior of “clean” transportation, and this study shouldn’t necessarily preclude anyone from drawing that conclusion. The study however is more damning evidence against corn ethanol because of its energy inefficiency.

EVs may be an eventual clean transportation solution someday, but in reality ICEs will continue to dominate the vehicle landscape for decades, and during that time, replacing gasoline with ethanol from cellulose will make sense. The promise of EVs is great, but for the foreseeable future the issues surrounding the cost of batteries, vehicle range, infrastructure, and even the availability of lithium limit EVs to a niche market.

ICEs are going to be with us for a long time, and cellulosic ethanol is superior to gasoline, so that argument stands unchanged. Whenever all of those issues are addressed, the decision between using biomass for EVs or for ethanol might be an easy one.

But until then, we can’t lose sight of the bigger opportunity. The environmental benefits of biomass electricity are clear — especially compared to fossil fuels for power generation. When compared to coal, biomass electricity reduces global warming potential by 148 percent.

In 2007, the U.S. produced more than 65 million megawatt hours of electricity from petroleum products (liquids and petroleum coke). During that year production of electricity from wood and other biomass was a mere 55 million megawatt hours. So if converting biomass to electricity to be stored in batteries and then used to power electric motors is worthwhile, then a one-step energy conversion to electricity makes much more sense than refining petroleum products for electric power generation.

According to a 2005 Department of Energy study, the biomass potential for energy production– including forestry and agricultural waste that doesn’t compete with the food supply — is seven times our current production. Seven times! And corn prices would probably go down as farmers would have a ready market for their agricultural waste, improving their revenue per acre.

That’s a lot of untapped natural resource that could replace coal and eliminate the need for additional power plants to meet the anticipated increases in demand. Biomass transit will be a big story in the coming decades, but biomass power plants could provide significant impact now.