Recent comments in /f/dataisbeautiful

Mushroom_Tip t1_j82yhkj wrote

Just in case some people didn't know this, not all sugar comes form sugarcane. Around half of the sugar in the US comes from sugar beets. So this isn't the supply of sugar in the world but rather just sugarcane alone.

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Roadkill_Bingo t1_j82xdgd wrote

But think about what ethanol production is. It’s distillation. Turn sugar into alcohol, easy. Well grains are seeds, so by their nature they’re starchy, so you have to convert them into simpler sugars first before you ferment. Not even considering the differences in yield (of which corn is inferior to sugarcane), the production costs are much lower for sugarcane ethanol. Thinking globally, it just doesn’t make sense using that valuable Midwest US land to grow corn for ethanol knowing you can import it from the tropics.

But indeed, no arguments here. Corn is an amazing plant with an absurd number of uses.

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Coloradostoneman t1_j82rsn1 wrote

Corn is actually an amazing plant in terms of calories per acre and per gallon of water. It is a C4 plant and Midwest corn burst is the most intense bit of photosynthesis anywhere on the planet per day.

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ChurchOfTheHolyGays t1_j82l8ke wrote

Because sugar cane has never been cultivated in the Amazon areas ffs.

Look, the country is larger than the contiguous US, ok? I know y'all learned about the existence of the Amazon over the past few years while western countries struggle to shift their blame for climate change, but Brazil is not and was never covered in all by the forest. There is even an arid region in the country which is about the size of France + Germany together.

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SillyFlyGuy t1_j82jjqq wrote

It's about assuring our food supply.

Half of the corn we grow goes into our cars. Meaning we grow twice as much as we need. We have all the manpower, equipment, and logistics to double food output instantly. No ramp up or lead time needed, just stop burning the corn already harvested.

That gives us a nice cushion in case something truly catastrophic happens. Gives us time to find a solution, if there's a solution to find.

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