Ran across the word “clanging” in Cormac McCarthy’s Stella Maris. Had to look it up in Wiki. Reminds me of a popular American politician.

The US has subsidized the use of ethanol from corn to mix with gasoline as a fuel source, mostly for automobiles. It never seemed to be a great idea, since all of the production and transportation of this corn takes energy, but it is a locally produced product. I was wondering what the future of ethanol (and corn) would be in the US as vehicles transition to electric.

The USDA says about a third of all corn grown in the US is used for ethanol production. I was surprised by this number. There are almost 20 million acres of corn grown in the US. Roughly 6 million are for ethanol. There are 640 acres in a square mile, so this is a bit over 10,000 square miles. This is an area the size of Maryland, significantly larger than New Jersey.

Corn is America’s Largest Crop in 2019

I was wondering how much of worldwide shipping is oil. Just moving crude and products around the world. I was expecting a significant number, but was surprised to learn it is almost one third of all shipping by weight. Not only does it take energy to move all of this oil around, but this also produces pollution. I wonder how this all compounds when you consider nearly all renewable energy is locally produced and requires no transport, at least not in the traditional sense. From Statistia.

In terms of tonnage, oil tankers accounted for around 29 percent of global seaborne trade that year.

Capacity of oil tankers in seaborne trade from 1980 to 2022 (in million dwt)

From the Curiosity Chronicle blog.

33 Life Learnings from 33 Years

Why is one of the richest men in Pennsylvania giving the governor of Texas his largest donation ever? I need to understand these things. I believe it used to be illegal for people in one state to influence politics in another state. I realize everyone does it, but is this really a good idea? From the Texas Tribune.

School voucher supporter gave Gov. Greg Abbott $6 million in December

If solar wasn’t already cheap enough. From Business Insider.

The glut sent prices down nearly 50% in 2023 as manufacturing levels stood three times above those seen in 2021

Solar modules are piling up in warehouses as a massive supply glut has slashed prices by half, IEA says

Fascinating stuff from Wired.

Crispr Pioneer Jennifer Doudna Has the Guts to Take On the Microbiome

Looking for reviews on McAfees books on the Second Machine Age / The Geek Way and ran across this short piece from MIT Sloan from 2018.

How to approach the second machine age

A good discussion on things like base load and how this sort of full transition will happen. From Canary Media.

A huge battery has replaced Hawaii’s last coal plant