driving an electric vehicle plays a critical role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, but the impact of this reduction gets diminished if the electricity comes from fossil fuels. the sources of electricity used to power your car must be green too and several choices are available to make that happen.

it all comes down to this: how can you ensure that you are maximizing the amount of electricity that comes from renewable sources used to charge your vehicle?

the two highest contributors of u.s. greenhouse gas emissions in 2016 were transportation and electricity production, according to the u.s. environmental protection agency. in illinois, 40% of the state’s electricity is produced by coal and natural gas—only 7% is produced by wind and solar, reports the u.s. department of energy. fortunately, some power companies offer green energy options for your power. and there are steps you can take to maximize the percentage of renewable sources for your electricity. how you do that depends first on where you live.

“if we’re talking just in a single area, or we’re talking about across the u.s., there’s a difference. that’s because the u.s. is broken up into these different interconnections,” said jordan schnell, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of earth and planetary sciences at northwestern university. “basically, depending on where you are, that’s your regional mix of electricity. the chicago area is different from the rest of illinois. if you live in central illinois, you go into a different mix than you do if you live in the chicagoland area. these are called interconnections.”

schnell uses mathematical models to study air quality issues and said that the most obvious way to ensure utilizing renewable electricity for a car is to live in a region that already produces a large amount of its electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar. illinois’ neighbor iowa is the heaviest producer of wind energy, and wind turbines dot the landscape along i-55 in illinois.

“the pacific northwest has a lot of hydroelectric and california is really ramping up its solar,” schnell said. “[in] west virginia, they get over 90% of their electricity from coal. unless you put a solar farm on your house, you’re not going to be getting clean energy.”

since moving may not be an option for most people, consider bringing the options home. the most significant opportunity is to contact your electricity provider. schnell said that the company should be able to provide a breakdown of the times when they incorporate the most renewable energy. most often this occurs during the day—a time often associated with when people use the most electricity or the peak load. electric companies typically charge more for electricity during this peak load period, but this is the best time to recharge your electric vehicle to maximize renewable sources.

“that’s when the electricity demand is higher,” schnell said. “so, all these generating sources are online, potentially. at nighttime, the demand is quite a bit lower, so that is picked up by the base load electricity supply which is predominately fossil fuels in most locations. so, the timing is the big thing. generally, it’s better to not charge during the evening. it’s better to charge during the day because there’s cleaner sources during the day.”

in illinois, your electricity provider is most likely commonwealth edison company (comed), which is a subsidiary of exelon corporation. comed provides electricity to 70% of illinois residents, including 4 million in the northern part of the state. in the 12 months ending in september 2018, 60% of the electricity provided to comed’s customers came from coal and natural gas, according to their environmental disclosure report—4% came from wind, hydro, and solar. nuclear power plants produce the rest. comed did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the sources of electricity provided to illinois residents.

direct energy, a subsidiary of u.k.-based centrica, provides power to roughly 67,000 illinois residents. amanda parrish, public relations manager, did not say exactly how much of the company’s electricity mix is made from renewable sources but reiterated that you are more likely to have access to these sources during the day.

“solar is clearly only producing during the day,” she said via email. “wind can blow at all hours, but in certain places we get the most at night. biomass can be used anytime.” although biomass is identified as a renewable source of energy, it does release some carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when it is burned to produce fuel.

the illinois power agency act, created in 2007, requires all large investor-owned electric utilities to produce 25% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. for the energy year 2019—which ends in may—these companies are required to source 14.5% of their electricity from renewables, and the percentage required increases incrementally up to 2025.

the best method to ensure that your electric vehicle is charged by renewable energy is to take production out of the hands of energy companies and produce the energy yourself.

“some people can get solar power installed at their home,” said marc geller, vice president and co-founder of plug in america, via email. the advocacy group provides consumer information such as installing photovoltaics on homes to power vehicles. “in that case their car could be effectively 100% solar powered.”

producing solar energy at home guarantees that your electricity is made by renewable sources and storing it in a home battery system means you can charge your vehicle via renewable energy at any time. the installation costs and amount of energy produced can vary based on location and installation company, but installing solar panels at home puts the control in the hands of the consumer.

“you could make your own electricity and store it in this battery,” schnell said. “even though you don’t have your car at home during the day where the sun is actually generating the electricity, you can sell it back to the grid or you can store it in your battery. then you can charge it at night from all the solar you generated throughout the day. it depends on where you live and how much you drive—northern illinois is not great for solar—but it can do a significant amount.”

illinois shines offers renewable energy credits (rec) to owners of approved solar panels, and these credits can be sold to utilities to help offset the cost of solar panel installation. comed offers several rebates and tax incentives to install solar panels at home. additionally, solar cooperatives are growing in popularity, allowing a group of individuals to share the cost of solar panel installation and to distribute solar energy among its members, effectively bypassing electricity companies.

regardless of how you power your electrical car, it offers a positive benefit. the electricity is getting more renewable overall and represents the clean future of the transportation system. according to the union of concerned scientists’ ev emissions tool, electric vehicles in randomly selected illinois zip codes release approximately 46% less of carbon dioxide equivalent (co2e) compared to gasoline vehicles.

“electricity in most of the u.s. is already cleaner than gasoline,” geller said. “and it’s getting more renewable every year everywhere.”

over the past three decades, esf’s willow project has picked up a tremendous amount of steam. its numerous collaborators range from the u.s. department of agriculture to academic institutions to local businesses, and its research scope covers everything from science to economics.

if all goes well, shrub willow could become a key part of rural landscapes and economies, as well as a source of heat, and, looking further ahead, biofuels – all while being completely carbon neutral.

why willow?

shrub willow is a short rotation woody crop used to produce biomass. on a basic level, the plant stores energy from the sun. after harvest, this energy is harnessed by simple burning or conversion into other types of fuel. the fact that it’s a “short rotation” crop means that it can be harvested every three years or so, and can re-sprout from the roots upward of seven times before it requires replanting.

according to this informational video on the project’s website, one acre of a typical harvest contains enough energy to power the average home for a year: 

the willow plant’s consumption of carbon dioxide offsets any emissions put into the atmosphere during planting, processing and transport, making this a truly carbon neutral energy source. because 175 different species of shrub willow are available, mixing varieties in the same field provides resilience to different weather patterns and pests. willow is generally well-suited for the climate in the northern u.s., and is ideal to fill up marginal agricultural land – fields that aren’t high quality enough to be reserved for most food crops.

as esf researchers began to uncover the huge potential willow has for biomass in the region, other invaluable uses for the plant came to light, current project director timothy volk told planet forward. shrub willow can be used as an ecological engineering tool; for example, it makes an excellent roadside snow barrier and can be planted along stream banks to prevent erosion. it also has been shown to support diverse wildlife and an estimated 55 species of important pollinating insects.

in solvay, new york, just down the road from esf’s syracuse campus, willow has proven its value as a bioremediation agent. on the site of an old soda ash factory, hundreds of acres of chemical byproduct had been held in settling basins, causing harmful salts to leach into the local watershed. planting shrub willow on the site has eliminated the problem almost completely: today, the plants absorb most rainwater, and the salts, without water to carry them, stay put. the northeast, volk pointed out, has no shortage of post-industrial sites like these in need of remediation.  

looking ahead

currently, there are about 12,000 acres of shrub willow planted in northern new york, and two wood-fired power plants that utilize it in combination with other plant matter.

still, this energy source has a long way to go to reach its true potential. economically speaking, it’s hard for any source or renewable energy to compete with the low price of fossil fuels. in recent years, this issue has been somewhat alleviated by the usda’s biomass crop assistance program (bcap) which has allowed many farmers to grow shrub willow by partially subsidizing their efforts. this has allowed willow to begin establishing a presence on the rural landscape and in the energy production field.

while shrub willow doesn’t rival the price point of fossil fuels, it does offer one tantalizing advantage: the potential for energy independence and job growth in rural areas. this prospect has been one of the major drivers of funding for the research.

“you’re in essence buying your energy source from your neighbor down the road as opposed to paying someone from another state or country for your source of energy,” volk said.

on a community level, the most feasible place to start using willow biomass is simply burning it to heat community centers, schools, campuses, and the like. but to see willow as a truly lucrative part of the economy on a larger scale, we must extend our gaze a bit farther into the future.

“to make the economics work, we need to get away from making a single product – just heat, or just electricity, or just biofuels – out of any biomass,” volk said.

in addition to energy, wood contains various chemicals, which, if isolated, could be sold at significant value. by breaking the willow down into its components and extracting these chemicals, and then converting the remaining bulk into biofuels, much more monetary value can be gained from the same crop. this process has been completed extensively in lab settings, but industrial-scale facilities, known as “biorefineries,” are only just breaking free of the conceptual stage and are not yet common in the energy industry.

it may seem a distant vision, but with 31 years of study and research already under its belts, suny-esf’s willow biomass team is keeping its sight set firmly on a sustainable future.   

federal policies will help implement programs and provide incentives for farmers to plant biomass crops on land that isn’t in use.