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▲ lantry 3 hours ago

little known fact: US currently grows a lot of corn for ethanol production. If we replaced that all with solar panels we'd have plenty of electricity. The solar vs farm debate is usually framed as a tradeoff with food production but that's not really true

https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/new-study-compa...

▲barbazoo 2 hours ago | parent [-]

> The USDA now expects 5.65 billion bushels of corn to be used for ethanol production in 2026-27

> The department has raised its corn production forecast by 234 million bushels to 16 billion bushels.

https://bioenergytimes.com/usda-raises-2026-27-us-corn-use-f...

About a third! Way more than I thought. I wonder how much of that would have to be covered in panels to get the same energy.

▲lantry 9 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

The article I linked claims 3.2%, which seems incredibly low, but maybe ethanol production is really just that inefficient.

▲rossjudson 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I wonder if we are depleting the soil to create all that corn. I really don't understand how the lifecycle of soil works, and maybe it's time to go off and ask AI...

▲KaiserPro an hour ago | parent [-]

depends on how its done, but almost certainly yes.

soil is a living thing, and varies by location. Clay, loam, sandy, etc etc. Then there is a layer of fungus that forms filaments. The roots of the plants grow into this, and then the invertebrates move shit about creating voids and pockets of nutrients.

ploughing can be disruptive to this. but more likley pumping pesticides and herbicies, along with moving the water table causes it to die off leaving only part of the biome behind.

Basically think of it like your intestines. You can live with a "clean"[1] gut, but you'll have the shits constantly, which'll make you dry and windy. Same with soil.

[1] think post antibiotic.