Well-to-wheels fuel efficiency. The efficiency of converting biomass to electricity and to hydrogen is summarized in this chart. To propel a battery EV 250 miles, approximately 1.48 MBTU’s of biomass energy would be required, assuming a 28% efficient biomass combustion turbine. For comparison, only 1.03 MBTU’s of biomass would be required to make enough hydrogen for a fuel cell EV traveling 250 miles.  Therefore converting biomass to hydrogen for a fuel cell EV is 43% more efficient than converting biomass to electricity for a battery EV.

Total system efficiency vs. range. If drivers will accept shorter ranges between battery charges, then BEVs can be made lighter with less battery storage onboard. The advantage of the FCEV then decreases as shown below:

If the vehicle range is reduced to 100 miles, then the FCEV has only a slight efficiency advantage over the BEV.

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