It's crazy because ethenol COULD be just a byproduct from food production. Talking to farmers about a decade ago that what they were aiming for. Basically a step before just tilling it or burning it back into the field if it was misshappen (consumers don't buy ugly veggies) or worse infested/rotting.

The subsidy structure messed that up apparently. The subsidized crop insurance made it not worth it, plus the ethanol subsidies required dedicated fields.

I 100% would rather see solar over dedicated ethanol fields and all of the water usage and pollution they represent.