New study compares growing corn for energy to solar production

US Energy Policy, Politics, and Representation

• Many see US corn‑ethanol policy as a product of farm lobbying and structural politics (Senate overrepresentation for low‑population states, Iowa’s primary role).
• Some argue the Constitution’s design (Senate, small House) entrenches rural influence; proposals include massively expanding the House to dilute small‑state power.
• Others counter that the federal government is doing too much beyond its intended scope, so Senate imbalances matter more than they should.

Corn Ethanol: Subsidies, “Food Security,” and Inefficiency

• Corn ethanol is widely called a “scam” or handout: ~40% of US corn goes to ethanol despite poor energy return and a 31:1 land‑efficiency gap vs solar.
• Defenders frame it as food‑security policy: overbuilt corn capacity that could be redirected to food in crisis.
• Critics respond that the Renewable Fuel Standard mandates overproduction, harms global farmers by depressing prices, degrades soil, and is a bad way to preserve capacity.

Solar Land Use and Transmission

• Analysis in the thread: converting just ethanol corn land to solar could (on paper) meet or exceed US electricity needs, especially when accounting for higher efficiency of electrified end uses (EVs, heat pumps).
• Disagreement over how easily electricity can be moved long distances: some emphasize grid capacity constraints; others note existing interconnections and modest transmission losses.
• Several note that solar can coexist with vegetation and grazing, and may actually improve soil relative to industrial monoculture corn.

Alternatives: Geothermal, Synthetic Fuels, Engineered Plants

• Geothermal is praised as a high‑potential, low‑input, long‑lived resource; concerns center on long‑term reservoir heat depletion and turbine lifetimes.
• Discussion of solar‑driven synthetic fuels (e.g., Sabatier, direct air‑to‑fuel) and solar‑powered protein production via microbes; framed as longer‑term, higher‑complexity options compared to simply replacing ethanol with solar.
• Genetic engineering to improve photosynthetic efficiency is mentioned as promising but unproven at scale.

Food, Vertical Farming, and Ecology

• Ideas about using solar + LEDs to optimize plant spectra and 3D farming face skepticism; vertical farming is described as commercially failing and biomass‑limited.
• Several argue reducing cropland (especially corn for fuel) would allow rewilding and richer biodiversity; others warn large ground‑mounted solar arrays also disturb soils and habitats.