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1. Embed this notice
   skry (skry@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 12:18:33 JST skry

   “Solar energy is often framed as a threat to croplands. However, vast croplands in the Midwestern United States already support corn ethanol biofuel, a form of energy with a greater land-use footprint per unit energy (~30×) and potential environmental impact (e.g., excessive fertilizer application) than solar energy. (1/4)

   • Embed this notice
     feld (feld@friedcheese.us)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 12:18:30 JST feld

     in reply to
     @skry That's a nice idea but the profits from the solar probably won't outpace the cost per acre of farmland
   • Embed this notice
     skry (skry@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 12:18:31 JST skry

     in reply to

     "No, it is not. It is a clear indication of how inefficient the whole corn for ethanol process is. Factor in the water, pesticides, and fertilizers needed to grow 30 billion acres of corn and you begin to get an idea about how much of a waste of precious resources the whole corn for ethanol scheme is. If Gruppenfuher Musk really wanted to cut government waste, his would send his DOGE stormtroopers into action to eliminate the giant boondoggle."

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     skry (skry@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 12:18:31 JST skry

     in reply to

     "But Wait, There’s More!

     The researchers then went further to show that if farmers took a bold leap and covered 46% of land currently used to farm ethanol with solar panels, that would then generate enough energy to reach the 2050 decarbonization goal for the US."

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     skry (skry@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 12:18:32 JST skry

     in reply to

     "We envisioned sustainable agro-ecosystems that can result from converting a small proportion of corn ethanol croplands into ecologically informed solar facilities (i.e., ecovoltaics). We identified opportunities where the strategic placement of ecovoltaic solar could facilitate enhancement of ecosystem services like water quality, pollination services, and wildlife habitat in crop-dominated ecosystems."
     ... (2/4)

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     skry (skry@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 12:18:32 JST skry

     in reply to

     "Roughly 12 million hectares (about 30 billion acres) of US farmland — an area the size of New York State — are currently devoted to growing corn that is not used for food but for making ethanol fuel. What if some of that acreage currently used to support ethanol was used instead to generate zero emissions electricity from solar panels instead?"
     ... (3/4)

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     skry (skry@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 12:18:32 JST skry

     in reply to

     "The motivation here was to understand whether ecovoltaic solar could be a more effective land use strategy than using 12 million hectares to grow corn for fuel"

     https://cleantechnica.com/2025/04/26/there-is-one-clear-winner-in-the-corn-vs-solar-battle/ #solar #agribusiness #farming #biofuel #ethanol (4/4)

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     skry (skry@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 12:18:32 JST skry

     in reply to

     "391,137 hectares (~1 million acres) of corn-for-ethanol farmland meets this criteria, which is just 3.2 percent of all the land currently devoted to corn ethanol farming. Converting just that tiny amount of land to solar could yield the same amount of energy as all corn ethanol farming does annually in the US. Wait, what? The energy from solar on about 1 million acres of farmland would equal the energy available from the ethanol derived from 30 billion acres of corn? Is this a joke?"

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     skry (skry@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 12:26:32 JST skry

     in reply to

     • feld

     @feld It's already a sunk cost, right? They propose to convert corn acres.

   • Embed this notice
     feld (feld@friedcheese.us)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 12:26:32 JST feld

     in reply to
     @skry Serious question: is it a widespread belief that farmers are farming on land that they completely own outright?
   • Embed this notice
     feld (feld@friedcheese.us)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 12:40:55 JST feld

     in reply to

     • feld
     @skry As a follow-up:
     
     Farmer's Bureau:
     
     > Still, 52% of ag land is operated by part owners, and less than 10% of ag land is operated by someone who exclusively rents land. Overall, this amounts to 39% of all acres being leased.
     
     https://www.fb.org/market-intel/agricultural-land-to-own-or-to-rent
     
     USDA:
     
     > According to USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) studies, more than half the cropland in the contiguous U.S. is rented
     
     https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/charts-of-note/chart-detail?chartId=109182
     
     A huge amount of farmers are paying every year to use land and pray the crop is successful enough to pay the lease. And if they're having a really good year they'll profit.
     
     So if you look at it from only a somewhat jaded perspective, the Farm Bill is a socialist program to keep farmers growing corn we don't need and then a ton of that money is being funneled indirectly to the actual land owners.
     
     Small farm operations are more likely to be owned outright, but also less likely to be motivated to give up farming and install solar. If they can even finance the investment.
     
     The non-operator landowners will probably continue to lease to farmers which would be more profitable than solar.
     
     It is a very unfortunate situation