Corn is not a dry land crop. In fact I have discussed this at length with legislators in California and the reason that they fought ethanol as the Feds foolishly rammed it down their throats is that they do not have the water. Ethanol works better in Brazil because they have the water. What you are overlooking is that ethanol produces no net gain in energy or but a minuscule gain. It is a giant boondoggle and con job. Without subsidies it fails and has failed for investors repeatedly. FYI i grew up in farming families and have spent time farming. Further, quite apart from subsidies and con jobs a far better gasoline formula has been patented and is available and our government has completely botched paying any attention to it and yet it can increase mileage up to 40% by itself and burns completely cleanly and would be far cheaper to make than present gasoline.
If we had not busied ourselves with cons like ethanol we could have been drilling our way to independence in energy years ago and if we combined that with better oil fuels, better engines and oil mining technology better than that used in Canada, all of which are available and avoided, we would be totally energy independent.
The same sort of obsession with cons has also blocked better, smaller nuclear plants, although it has not stopped the navy and we can realize substantial albeit minor in the overall picture energy production from wind.
To be very blunt about the endless boondoggling with ethanol has helped the other side in this war, not our side, and we need to stop it.
CA is not a big corn state. I have lived in the West too—CA, OR, ID. I know about irrigation. The big corn states are in the Midwest—Iowa, Neb, IL (annual rainfall about 50 inches this year)—and most of it is not irrigated. 400 gallons ETOH/acre with most infrastructure in place is clearly a viable piece of the energy pie and has been since the 70s. HOw many ETOH plants does CA have in place?
What is the alternative energy you refer to but don’t state? Where is the infrastructure for it? You make it all sound so easy. Agribusiness already has well over a trillion in infrastructure.