Comparing Land Use for Solar vs. Ethanol: Where Materials Could be a Better Use of Corn

A new research article in PNAS highlights a critical point in our energy transition: the significantly better land-use efficiency of solar over ethanol for energy generation. The study reveals that generating the same amount of energy from corn ethanol requires approximately 31 times more land than utility-scale solar PV.

With 12 million hectares of US cropland currently dedicated to corn for ethanol – an area the size of New York State – this research presents an argument for a strategic shift. Converting even a small fraction (just 3.2%) of this land to ecologically informed solar facilities could dramatically increase the US's utility-scale solar energy share and offer significant environmental benefits like improved water quality and enhanced biodiversity. Redirecting the existing capacity for corn processing towards materials such as bioplastics may make more sense. The question then is what biotechnological conversions can make best use of existing ethanol plants with large fermenters built for anaerobic fermentation? 

Ecologically informed solar enables a sustainable energy transition in US croplands