30% of the nation’s corn crop goes towards ethanol manufacturing (not meals, for both individuals nor animals). As an increasing number of automobiles are powered by electrical energy quite than gasoline, we might not want that ethanol sooner or later. What if we used that land for photo voltaic as a substitute?
Bryan Jacob | December 28, 2023
| Photo voltaic
The “meals vs. gas” debate rages on. Sensible minds have argued for many years about whether or not it’s smart to make the most of meals commodities (like corn) to provide biofuels (like ethanol). However I’d like to look at a unique dimension of this challenge: land use.
A companion debate has emerged. The photo voltaic business is more and more confronted by criticism over the quantity of land (significantly farmland) being utilized for vitality technology by photovoltaics. I’ve blogged concerning the Land Use Implications of Power Selections earlier than.
In that weblog, I referenced Invoice Nussey (Liberating Power creator and podcaster) fairly extensively. One of many different articles Invoice has printed lately was entitled: “Making Ethanol From Corn Is The Least Environment friendly Use Of Farmland” the place he posed the query “So, what if American corn farmers changed their fields with photo voltaic farms?”
Nationwide, about 30% of corn manufacturing goes towards ethanol manufacturing (not meals, for both individuals nor animals). And I’d wish to deal with the state of Tennessee for a comparability I’ll get to subsequent. In accordance with the College of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, greater than 900k acres of corn have been planted in Tennessee this 12 months. So if that 30% issue holds for Tennessee, as nicely, ethanol manufacturing might at present characterize round 270k acres within the state.
What does that should do with the worth of tea in China?
Earlier this 12 months (August 2023), researchers additionally from the College of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture launched a report EVALUATING POTENTIAL LAND USE OF UTILITY-SCALE PHOTOVOLTAICS (SOLAR PANELS) ON FARMLAND IN TENNESSEE. A key outcome from that evaluation is that if the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) follows by way of on its dedication to have 10 gigawatts (10,000 megawatts) of photo voltaic by 2035, that might occupy between 57,514 and 103,443 acres of land (0.22% to 0.39% of the state’s whole land mass, or 0.53% to 0.96% of Tennessee’s farmland).1
The place I’m headed with that is that, if 10 GW photo voltaic in Tennessee requires an estimated 58k – 103k acres of land (based on the latest UT research), then we’d have greater than sufficient land for photo voltaic if we simply convert all of the ethanol land over to photo voltaic — which is extra environment friendly anyway (per Nussey’s evaluation). Farmers make extra (and predictable) cash on photo voltaic leases. Plus, as we transition (regularly) away from gasoline vehicles, there gained’t be as a lot of the “synthetic” demand for ethanol anyway.
It seems, I’m not the one one interested by this matter. I discovered this UC Davis evaluation to be significantly fascinating: Ought to Farmers Plant Photo voltaic Panels or Corn? Along with evaluating vitality metrics, the creator additionally demonstrates how delicate the farmers’ monetary returns are to electrical energy value.
And, after all, there’s the entire challenge of ethanol subsidies (additionally controversial) which can be primarily based extra on politics than economics. Regardless, these subsidies actually issue into choices farmers make on learn how to make the most of their land.
I welcome your suggestions/reactions. You possibly can e-mail me at [email protected] however I’ll additionally submit this on LinkedIn and X (previously referred to as Twitter) so you’ll be able to think about commenting there, as nicely.
1 The evaluation assumed all the photo voltaic may very well be developed throughout the state of Tennessee quite than dispersed throughout all the seven state area of TVA; so this can be a very conservative, worst-case, state of affairs.
