this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2026
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Putting solar panels on land used for biofuels would produce enough electricity for all cars and trucks to go electric:
How much energy can be produced on global land used for liquid biofuels: 32000 TWh for PV vs 1400 TWh biofuels for transport:
Remember that you can still use the land for a more useful agricultural crop with higher¹ or similar² yield³ with agrivoltaics
You can also put panels over parking lots. USA alone has more parking lot land area than some countries:
Biofuels: the least efficient form of solar power one could possibly invent.
It's fine if you have ample fields and a low population with an excess of food.
It's mainly there as a form of farm subsidy that bypasses restrictions thrown up by long-existing trade agreements. Canada provides no farm subsidies besides underwriting crop and moisture insurance premiums to an extent, but the US has a long history of flouting these restrictions.
As usual. Coincidentally it provides money for equipment manufacturers and inputs providers like Deere and Cargill. But I'm sure that's just a happy coincidence of providing "food security".